The Misfortunate and The Buckwild
by Duskwild19
Summary: My first fanfic. Not perfect nor is the grammer. Story: A 15-year-old weasel loses his home and parents to an evil pack of wolves. He was sad and homeless, until he fell into the Dinosaur World and met a certain crazy one-eyed weasel. As they go on an adventure, will the teenager find a new family or home? Takes place between Ice Age 3 and 4. Rated T for now.
1. Conflict

Chapter 1: Conflict

It was a bright, normal day in the cold, snowy Ice Age world. It first took place in the woods, where it was calm and trees had pink pedals. Just then a mysterious adult weasel came. His name was Hunter, and he was a fierce warrior wearing a wolf's fur coat and a tooth-like blade equipped. He was leaping behind tree

after tree, making sure there weren't any vicious predators around or hiding anywhere. Hunter looked and looked, until he found out that it was actually safe. He then turned and shouted so the others could hear him. "It's safe", he called out. "You all can come out now!"

A group of other mammals came out as Hunter told them, each carrying blocks of wood. They were a mother beaver named Emma and her son Ned, and an average teenage weasel who is Hunter's son named Duke. Duke always lived an unhappy, miserable life. He endured years of being harassed and bullied, his parents are barely helpful, he hardly gets peace in his life, and he often gets bored and feels like a housecat. Ned was a know-it-all, geeky beaver who talks fast and was always annoying to Duke. Most of the time, Emma is given the job to baby-sit Duke where he's often stuck with Ned. Emma and her husband are, in fact, best friends and helpers to Duke's parents.

"Alright, boys", Emma said to Duke and Ned. "He said it's safe. Let's get moving." Duke, Emma, and Ned came toward Hunter and they began walking through the forest with them. As they walked, Duke's feet were sore and he was tired of walking around carrying wood.

"Dad", Duke groaned. "How much more wood do we have to carry? We've been doing this for a long time and my feet are aching up a storm."

"Keep at it, son", Hunter told Duke with confidence. "Firewood can't collect itself."

"Can't we at least take a short break?"

"Just a little more, child. You'll make it. Trust me."

"Yeah, Duke", Ned jumped in. Duke rolled his eyes as Ned continued in a fast pace. "It's good exercise. It's good for you. You'll need it. You ought to be tired of being a lazy bum. You should get out more and play. You should lift weights. In fact, you should lift weights, rocks, logs, other stuffs. Am I right? Of coarse I am. Even Mom agrees with me. It's called being and staying fit..."

While being annoyed by Ned, Duke walked passed him and spoke to his mother, Emma. "Mrs. Emma, can you maybe tell your son that if he ties his muzzle shut, he'll be the smartest in the Ice Age world?"

"Duke", Emma argued. "Be nice to my son. Besides, he is right. You should get fit someday. For now, we're only out to get firewood, and we're splitting it fifty-fifty."

Duke sighed, feeling neglected and as if nobody ever agrees with him. _Well I'd only be fit if I was out on a better adventure_, he thought.

They continued, and then they found another one of the torn-done trees which is where they get the firewood. "Wow", Duke said. "The thunderstorm really struck this tree out of the ballpark..."

"Alright, baby", Emma said to Ned. "You know what to do now."

The beavers putted down the firewood they were carrying and started carving more from the cut-down tree. They carved it out swiftly with their buckteeth. Hunter was proud to have friends like Emma's family always help him out. Hunter crossed his arms and smiled, while Duke didn't fully feel okay with it.

"Dad", Duke asked, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Doesn't it feel more like we're using them?"

"No, son", Hunter laughed. "There are times where we help them too. That's how we pay them back, also with our family recipe."

"Our family recipe?" Duke then went deep into thought, then found out what is father meant. "Oh yeah, that's right..."

Just before Duke was going to say it, Hunter went ahead and did it. "Our one and only vegetable soup", he stated.

After being cut off, Duke felt irritated and beaten. "Gee, thanks", he complimented with sarcasm.

"Yep. Our brilliant dish made with veggies."

"But it's not so brilliant with broccoli. Broccoli is my worst enemy. I hate it."

"I see. But apparently, your mother and I like it better with broccoli."

Duke felt neglected. "I notice. It's probably why we're always having to make the soup with it more often than without it."

Hunter patted Duke's shoulder. "You'll make the best of it, son. In fact, you will eat what we make and what we worked hard for. Either that or eat nothing. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Thatta boy! Now we're gonna need our amount of the firewood so we can begin cooking. Let's help carry it, shall we? This is our last stop, then we're going back home."

Duke nodded as Hunter then walked ahead towards the beavers to check on them. As he did without looking, Duke looked at him with an upset expression. It was more like his parents care less about what his son likes or dislikes. _Honestly_, he thought. _Why can't anybody, even my own family, ever care?_

Duke sighed, kicked a rock, and walked over with his father. Emma and Ned were already done carving out more blocks of wood, and the two weasels helped carry it.

"Alright", Hunter said while he and Duke are holding the wood. "This is it for now. Let's get back so we can begin making dinner."

"Can't wait", Ned boasted, jumping up and down. "Can't wait! Can't wait! Can't wait!"

"My son sure can't wait to eat more if your delicious soup, Hunter", Emma laughed.

They all laughed except Duke, who is still unhappy about his life. They all then went back to where he and Hunter lived so they could prepare the meal.


	2. The Past and an Old Enemy

Chapter 2: The Past and an Old Enemy

They made it back to where Duke and Hunter lived. It was a cabin-like house which was made with sticks and wood and has a chimney made from rocks and stone, built with the help of the beavers. The mammals came inside where Duke's mother, female weasel named Rita, was very busy. She had been keeping the household clean while also boiling water for the planned soup in the stone pot over the fire in the fireplace. She also kept the vegetables she and Hunter picked organized and on the side. While that, Rita noticed the others coming in.

"Hunter, honey", Rita greeted as she smiled, happy to see her husband and son again. "You're back."

As everyone else putted aside the firewood, Hunter kissed Rita and started helping her out with the vegetables. He began by taking each of the carrots, taking his knife, and he started chopping them with it into pieces. After that, Hunter then dropped them into the pot and then began chopping the celery. As he did, Duke looked at Hunter's knife and went deep into thought about it. It looked like it could tell so much stories about it and his father.

"Dad", Duke asked with curiosity. "How were you really able to obtain such a unique-looking blade?"

"Ah yes, son", Hunter said to Duke. "It's actually a tooth. A sharp tooth, that is..."

"Whoa, really? It does look too chipped up to be a tooth, though. Whose tooth was it?"

"It was the tooth of a certain arch enemy of mine..." Hunter finished up cutting the celery and tossed the pieces into the pot. He then left Rita to do the rest of the work and sat down holding the blade.

"Who was your enemy", Duke asked as Hunter sat down.

"My enemy...was a powerful leader of a pack of vicious wolves. He was a black-furred wolf named Ripper."

Duke gasped, surprised to hear about a wolf whose name sounds as bloodthirsty as he could be. Duke then became eager to know more about what happened. Hunter went on telling Duke his life story.

* * *

Far away through the snow, there was a dark, gloomy cave. It was more like a hideout or a secret base. Inside the cave were a pack of vicious, evil wolves gathered around near a campfire. They each had many different personalities, hobbies, cravings, and such. Some were chewing on bones of the small animals they hunted and throwing them away. They relaxed and chilled around the campfire, until the leader came. Of course, the leader was the one Hunter had been telling Duke about, Ripper. Ripper also had a scare on his eye that was shaped like the letter "X". He climbed up and stood on top of a big rock above the other wolves. While on top of the rock, the wall behind Ripper had violent, graphic drawings on it with wolves chasing and killing rabbits and other small animals. While still on top of the boulder, Ripper got his pack's attention.

"Alright, listen up", Ripper demanded. His whole pack of wolves looked up at him, paying attention. The three main ones stepped forward out of the whole pack and paid closer attention. Ripper smiled evilly as he continued. "I have a brilliant plan for tomorrow."

Rax, the crazy one of the main trio, came forward bouncing up and down eagerly. "Oh! Oh! Are we gonna go hunting deer? Are we gonna hunt more rabbits? How 'bout opossums? Oh! Oh! Or how bout-?"

Rax was then smacked on the head by Edna, the female one of the trio. "Put a rock in it, nutcase", she demanded. "Let our leader speak!"

The third one of the trio named Brute came in, breaking it up between Rax and Edna. "Chill, fellas. In order to be a good team, we have to cooperate like geniuses."

Edna growled at Brute as if he's unreliable. "Who asked for your advice, wise guy?!"

"Silence", Ripper roared as the trio froze and looked back at him with surprised expressions. "Don't you idiots ever have any brains?!"

"Well blame the coo-coo bird and the smarty pants over here", Edna said, pointing at Rax and Brute.

"Well, jeez", Brute argued. "Blame the cool guy, why don't ya? What about the peanut brain?"

"I didn't do it", Rax shouted foolishly.

"Listen", Ripper growled. He got the trio's attention once again as he continued. "Tomorrow, we plan an attack. We'll get back at a certain someone who I should have killed a long time ago..."

"Never knew you fought someone back in the day", Brute said. "Who is that 'someone'?"

"That someone..." Ripper moved out of the way to show a drawing on the wall that's supposed to be of a certain weasel. "...is Hunter."

The trio became astonished with surprised expressions, then they smiled evilly accepting Ripper's plan. "Ooh", Edna said cleverly. "A weasel with such a tough name."

"Oh, it's not just his name that seems tough", Ripper informed. He then walked back toward the wall of drawings.

"I did this to him..."

Ripper shreds the drawing of Hunter with his claws, showing what he had done to him in the past.

"Although he did this to me..."

Ripper pointed at the scar on his face and the space in his teeth, showing that he's missing a tooth. The trio gasped, but then Brute became unimpressed.

"Eh, he won't be so tough when we deal with him", Brute commented. Edna and Rax started agreeing with him, smiling and nodding.

"He's not alone, though", Ripper informed as he pointed at more drawings. They looked like Duke and Rita. Rax, once again, jumped in.

"Uh…so what", Rax quizzed. "He has brothers and sisters? They don't look like it to me. They look more like-."

Edna cut him off, correcting his stupidity. "That's his family, you idiot! That's his wife and his son!"

"That's right", Ripper said. "He does have a family now. But still, we shall do as planned..." He grinned bigger and more evilly. "...kill them all..."

The trio smiled and nodded, liking Ripper's plan more and agreeing. "Oh, this'll be good", Rax squealed with excitement.

"Yes", Ripper chuckled. "It'll be a sweet taste of revenge. For now my henchmen, get as much sleep as you can. Tomorrow will be a big day to strike. And victory...shall be mine..."

All of the wolves, including the trio, began to leave. As they did, Ripper started laughing evilly. He laughed as he began to leave into the darkness of the cave.

* * *

It was nighttime back at the house where Duke and his parents lived. The family including Emma and Ned were all outside around the campfire, enjoying the soup Hunter and Rita made. Emma's husband, male beaver named Bernie, was also invited enjoying some soup as well. Emma was happy to once again have dinner with Hunter's family.

"Thank you so much for inviting us over for dinner, Hunter", Emma proudly thanked.

"You sure are welcome, my friends", Hunter replied, smiling warmly. "Family and friends together feels so much like a blessing."

"Yup", Bernie said. "It sure does."

Ned, sitting beside Duke, was smacking his lips while eating his soup. Duke was being annoyed by it, hardly eating his soup. He sighed as he putted his wooden spoon back in his bowl and asked Ned for a favor. "Could you not eat so loud", Duke asked, irritated and urged.

Ned looked at Duke with a sad smile. "Sorry, I can't help it. This soup is _so _good."

"Fine", Duke sighed as he continued eating. Emma heard and saw the whole conversation between Duke and Ned, but she turned to Duke with a confused expression.

"Now honey", Emma asked Duke, curious about his feelings. "Why don't you ever cheer up and smile? Is life not treating you well enough or something?"

"Well", Duke said with embarrassment, not knowing much to say. "Not really..." But then he said his answer in his mind. _Yes...indeed._

"C'mon, champ", Bernie said to Duke cheerfully. "Lighten up for a minute or two. You can't always be such a downer."

"Well...okay, I guess." Something then came into Duke's mind. It reminded him of something as he turned to Hunter to tell it to him. "Say, Dad? Can you maybe finish telling the story about the rivalry between you and this 'Ripper'?"

Hunter sat up, glad that Duke reminded him about it. "Oh yes", he said as he cleared his throat. "Ripper and his evil pack of wolves came attacking the village I used to live in. We, warrior weasels, fought back though. Of coarse, I met and was in love with your mother while living at that village. But while the attack, I had to risk my life to save her and take the hit Ripper attempted to throw at her. This was what happened because of it..."

Hunter took the wolf fur off and showed Duke the huge scar that's on his back. Duke gasped in a shocking surprise. "That looks horribly brutal", he said.

"Indeed it is", Hunter continued. "But no worries child, I then managed to knock out one of his teeth, as you can see for this blade. Ripper and I engaged in battle. While that, I sliced through his eye twice giving him a scar too. We continued, but later it was time for those wolves to retreat. They left, leaving our village destroyed. To cover the scar on my back though, I ripped off the fur from a dead wolf my men managed to kill and used it. Your mother and I were homeless, until we trusted in some good beaver friends to help build a new home..."

Duke looked back at the house they lived in, understanding what Hunter was talking about. Emma smiled, complimenting Hunter's past story. "Yes-sir", Emma chuckled. "Your father sure fought those mean ol' wolves off."

Ned began complimenting too, jumping around and doing playful punches and kicks. "Yeah, he kicked an awful lot of butt! He gave those wolves a HI-YAH! And a HOO-WAAH-YAH! And he..."

As Ned went on, Duke ignored him and continued to speak with Hunter. "So Dad, what else happened", Duke quizzed.

Hunter got up, yawned, and stretched. "Eh, I'll have to tell you the rest tomorrow. It is getting quite late."

They all got up from their seats and handed Rita their empty bowls as the beavers got ready to go home. "Well thank you again for inviting us over for dinner", Emma said cheerfully.

"Yup", Bernie said. "Everything was scrumptious."

"You're very welcome", Rita said happily. "I'm glad you enjoyed everything."

"Welp", Bernie said, yawning and stretching. "We gotta hit the sack too. Take care, my good ol' weasels friends."

The weasels said their good-byes too as the beavers went on home. After that, Rita splashed a bucket of water into the campfire, putted it out. The weasels then went inside the house, getting ready for bed.

"Well, goodnight son", Hunter said to Duke. "Hopefully tomorrow will go okay for you. I don't need anymore disappointment from you, after all."

"Goodnight, Dad", Duke said back with a sad smile as he went into his room and closed the door. Later, everyone was finally in bed and asleep. Duke was in bed, but he was still awake. He couldn't stop reflecting on the past on when he was younger. He was always been picked on and harrassed by other mammal kids, and neglected and mistreated by the some adults. He doesn't remember doing anything wrong to deserve it. Duke chose to forget about it as he pulled the covers up on him and went asleep anyways.


	3. The Herd is the Word

Chapter 3: The Herd is the Word

The next day, Duke woke up and got out of bed. He headed into the kitchen and found his parents having fruits for breakfast. They never woke him up nor called him to join, and he was upset about it. "Uh...morning, Mom", Duke said with an eyebrow raised. "Morning, Dad."

"Morning, son", Hunter said with cheer. He then tossed a pear to Duke for him to eat. "Have some breakfast."

"Thanks", Duke said with sarcasm. "But, why didn't either of you wake me up before you went to get breakfast? You totally went without me."

"We tried to wake you", Rita said. "We called your name over and over while you were asleep."

"I was probably still dreaming. You could have shook me awake. Honestly, I always be having to stay in the house. I could have at least gone picking fruits with you. Why can't I ever go out on adventures just like Dad?"

"That's enough out of you, mister", Hunter demanded. "Most of the time, I have you stay here with your mother so you could be kept safe. Plus, we keep you over at Ms. Emma's house so she and her husband can watch over you too. There are times where only adults go out there."

"But I'm 15. I'm not called a kid anymore. Don't teens count as adults too?"

"Absolutely not, son. I'm afraid you're still a kid, nor might you have the gutts or maturity to go out on real adventures. That's why we keep you safe inside. We only take you with us when there's important stuff that need to be taken care of, like chores or to help look for ingredients. So for now, sit down and eat!"

Duke sighed and sat down like his father told him. He began eating his pear while still upset. He felt as if his parents don't need him or as if he's useless. _More like 'Hunter hero, Duke zero', _ Duke thought. _So overprotective..._

Later, they were done eating. There were nothing left but the cores of the fruits they were eating. Rita cleaned up after her husband and son, picking up the fruit cores and peels. Hunter smiled at her, leaned back with his feet on the table. "Thanks, sweet potatoe", Hunter said happily.

Rita turned to him and smiled. "Anything for my brave, heroic man", she said to him as she winked at him and walked outside with the trash. Duke calmed down as he was reminded of something. Duke became curious, and wanted to find out about it. "Dad", he asked. "I'm just wondering. Ripper still isn't after us, is he? What if he wants revenge?"

"Well as long as he doesn't have company", Hunter replied. "Then me and him will deal it alone."

Duke was a bit worried. "Okay, I guess. As long as he doesn't bring friends..." He leaned back too, rubbing the back of his head while still a bit worried. Rita came back in and spoke to Hunter and Duke. "Hunter, Duke", Rita asked. "There's someone whose here to see you."

Hunter got up and came to the door to see who it is, and Duke watched. Hunter opened the door saw who it was, it was a sloth who was just as tall as the whole house. The sloth was on his knees, kneeled down in front of the door. Hunter and Duke were surprised to meet a sloth since they never have before. The sloth had a sad smile as if he was embarrassed. "Hi", the sloth said, waving.

"Oh", Hunter said. "And who are you suppose to be?"

"I'm Sid. Umm...I was wondering if one of you weasels could help us out...at least a little..."

"May I ask what you need help on?"

"Well, me and my other two friends need help pushing over a log. If any of you don't mind, we could maybe use a fourth guy."

Hunter thought about it. _Hmmm...this sloth does seem to be friendly_, he thought. Hunter wasn't sure about helping Sid since he'll be busy too along with Rita. "Well, I suppose", he said.

Duke, after hearing what Sid needs help on, was interested and wanted to do it as he smiled. "I'll help", he called out.

Hunter turned to Duke with a confused expression. "Duke", he quizzed. Duke walked towards the door to Hunter and Sid. "Yeah", he said. "I'd like to help."

"I dunno if it's a good idea, son", Hunter said sternly.

"C'mon, dad. Please? I'd also like to hang out with them, too. It's mostly because I don't have any friends. I really want to start being social and have people to talk to."

"Oh, he can hang out with us too", Sid said. "We wouldn't mind a friend to our herd."

"Yeah, dad", Duke continued. "It's just at least for this one time."

Hunter went deep into thought for a minute. He then became okay with it and accepted it. "Well, okay", Hunter said. "Just remember to come back at sunset. Understood?"

"Thanks, Dad", Duke replied happily. "And yes, sir." He then walked outside to Sid, but then Hunter had one last thing to tell him before he left. "And in case they get hungry for lunch", Hunter said. "You remember how to make the soup, right?"

"Yes", Duke said. "I do. It's all in my head." As Rita came to the door too, Sid picked up Duke and stood up while making a promise. "No worries, mister and misses weasel", Sid said as he winked at Duke's parents. "He'll be back safe, clean, and in perfect condition. I promise."

"Well I hope so", Rita said. "Take care, Duke."

"By Mom", Duke called out as Sid placed him on his shoulder. "By Dad!" As Sid went away with Duke, Rita was a bit worried. "Honey", she quizzed with an eyebrow raised. "Are you sure this is safe for him?"

"I'm pretty sure it will", Hunter replied. "I've heard that sloths like that one are harmless, but also lazy and slow. How bad can they be?" Rita sighed as she and Hunter went back into the house and continued with their business.

* * *

Far out into the snow other than Sid and Duke, Ripper and his trio were already out for the hunt for Duke and his family. Brute sniffed and sniffed for their scent on the way, and he pointed to directions the scent of the weasels was coming from. "They're this way, my lord", Brute informed as he pointed out to the direction where he can smell the weasels.

"Good", Ripper said, smiling evilly. "The time will finally come for me to have my revenge."

Rax was impatient and his feet were sore. "Are we there yet", Rax asked. "My feet are killing me! And I wanna bite something! Please? Please? Are we there yet? Are we? Are-...?"

Edna grabbed Rax's muzzle and yanked him towards her angry face. "We will be there if you shut your trap", she yelled. Edna letted go of Rax's muzzle, and he felt bad and embarrassed. "Sorry", Rax said with a sad smile.

"Patience", Ripper demanded. "There shall be no arguing nor fighting, or I won't share my upcoming meal to you fools!"

"Sir", Brute called to Ripper. "Look." Brute pointed somewhere, and Ripper and the trio came over and looked. They could finally see the house Duke and his parents lived in from a far away distance. "There it is", Brute said cleverly with a devilish smile.

"Don't you mean 'there they are', Brute" Edna asked.

"Whatever", Brute said, rolling his eyes.

"Ah, yes", Ripper said in pleasure as he spots Duke's house. "The time really has come. That foolish Hunter and his hilarious family won't know what hit them this time. Let's go my minions, and hunt down our long time prey."

They began running straight for the house, drooling and ready to attack. Although they did so, they never even noticed that Duke has already left.

* * *

Sid and Duke were still walking along through the Ice Age. As they then went into a forest, they began to talk. "So", Duke said. "You only need to push over a log...?"

"Yeah", Sid replied. "It's just a small little task."

"Right...Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself! And pretty much, so did my parents. I'm Duke."

Sid smiled. "Nice to meet you, Duke. I'm Sid."

"Nice to meet you too, Sid."

"I gotta say, though. You guys sure have a pretty nice house. How did you manage to build something that fantastic?"

"Thanks, and it was with the help of some beaver friends. I actually wasn't there when they built it."

"Oh. Well, no wonder your house was made out of sticks and wood."

"Yeah. So anyways, who are your two other friends who need help?"

Sid rubbed the back of his head, feeling embarrassed. "Well..."

They finally made it, and there were two twin opossums sitting on top of a big log. The whole time, they were impatiently waiting. They looked up at Sid and glared at him with upset expressions.

"Well, it's about freakin' time", the first opossum said angrily.

"Did it really take you that long to find help", the second opossum asked angrily.

"Hey", Sid argued. "I have been asking other mammals, and they wouldn't even want to listen to me! At least don't be so hard on me!"

Duke noticed the twin opossums, and was a bit weirded out. "So", Duke said, rubbing the back of his head with an eyebrow raised. "Those are your other two friends?"

"Yeah", Sid replied. "They can be so annoying, too." As the two opossums jumped off the log, Sid got Duke off his shoulder and putted him down next to the twins. "Just don't let them drive you crazy."

"What are you talking about, Sid", the first opossum asked.

"We wouldn't pick on a new guy", the second opossum said.

The two opossums then turned to Duke and smiled. "Hi", the first one said.

"Um, hi", Duke said, feeling a bit shy.

"I'm Crash", the first opossum said.

"I'm Eddie", the second opossum said.

"Nice to meet you two", Duke said.

"Crash, Eddie", Sid asked. "That's Duke. He's gonna be helping us out. Duke, you can start by getting at the other end of the log."

Duke nodded and did as Sid said, going to the end and getting ready. Sid and the twins got next to Duke in front of the log and got ready too. "Now on the count of three", Sid said. "We'll all push. One...two...THREE!"

They all, including Duke, began to push on the log. They pushed, and the log started rolling. "Great", Sid said. "It's working! Keep up the good work down there, Duke!"

Duke smiled and nodded as he kept pushing with all his might. They kept pushing and pushing the log up a hill until they finally reached the top. Sid and Duke were both exhausted, and Crash and Eddie were excited.

"Alright", Crash said happily as him and Eddie got on top of the log.

"We're ready", Eddie said.

Duke became curious. "Uhh...where are they going with this?"

"You'll see", Sid replied to Duke as he winked at him. "Get ready, though. 'Cause this log's going down the hill." While confused, Dusk once again got ready to push the log, and so did Sid. "Alrighty", Sid said. "PUSH!"

Sid and Duke pushed, and the log started rolling down the hill. Crash and Eddie rode on it, running backwards on top of it and shouting "WOOHOO" and "YEAH". Sid and Duke watched them, and they later crashed into a rock and fell off the log. The twins laughed and complimented about how fun it was. Duke wasn't interested nor was his mind blown. It felt more like a waste of time to him.

"Uh, that's it", Duke quizzed. "All that back-aching log-pushing just to give those nutcases a ride?!"

"Pretty much, yes", Sid replied, rubbing the back of his head. "It was kinda because-." Sid was cut off for a minute because Duke was looking at him with an upset expression and with his arms crossed. "Um, well", Sid said, feeling sorry for Duke and understanding him. "Sorry. To tell you the truth, I have more friends too other than Crash and Eddie. A couple of mammoths and a saber-tooth tiger. The mammoths didn't want to help, and the tiger was asleep and didn't want to be disturbed. So...yeah...Oh, and we have a baby mammoth too."

Duke sighed. "It's fine", he said. "I understand."

"Say, wanna come with us to our camp? You should definitly meet my other friends."

Duke shrugged and was relieved. "Sure. Why not?"

Crash and Eddie caught up to Sid and Duke as Sid placed Duke back on his shoulder. "Alrighty, then", Sid said with cheer. "Let's go." The four then started strolling out of the forest and through the Ice Age again.


	4. A Tragic Loss

**Yeah…this chapter really didn't come out all that good…some of it, actually. :/ But hope you'll still like it. Plus I was gonna name it "The Herd is the Word", but it also includes Duke's loss of his home and family. I should have thought of it and named the third chapter that, though. Anyways, here's the fourth chapter:**

Chapter 4: A Tragic Loss

Minutes later, Sid, Duke, and the twins finally met up with the other herd members. They were exactly what Sid said: two adult mammoths, a saber tooth tiger, and a kid mammoth. They all turned to and noticed Sid and the twins as they came.

"Uncle Sid", the kid mammoth shouted, glad to see him. "You're back!"

"There you are", the male mammoth said in an upset tone.

"Well, look who's finally back from their playtime", the tiger said with sarcasm. "Did you losers have fun?"

"Well, jeez", Sid said with sarcasm. "Some way to welcome someone back..."

Duke rubbed the back of his head with a confused expression, astonished to see such a big, but odd 'herd'. "So", he said to Sid, smiling a bit. "_This_ is your herd?"

"Yes, it is", Sid replied. "After all, I was the one who made this herd."

"Yeah, right", the tiger chuckled with sarcasm. The male mammoth then noticed Duke whose on Sid's shoulder. "Say", he said with an eyebrow raised. "Who told you to invite friends over?"

"Yeah", the female mammoth said. "Who is that little guy on your shoulder?" Duke pointed at himself, questioning if they're talking about him. "Yes, you", both the adult mammoths replied to him.

Sid held Duke with one hand and introduced the herd to the him. "Everyone", Sid said. "Meet Duke."

"Hi", Duke greeted, waving with a shy smile.

The saber-tooth tiger came up to Sid and Duke as he introduced himself. "Sup, dude", the tiger greeted. "Name's Diego."

"Manfred", the male mammoth said. "But everybody calls me Manny."

"Ellie", the female mammoth said.

"I'm Peaches", the kid mammoth said. "So Duke, what brings you here to our family?"

"Well", Duke said, rubbing his arm. "I just need someone to hang out with. To be honest, I'm as lonely as always..."

"Then why didn't ya say so, kid", Diego laughed as he snatched the teenage weasel from Sid and gave him a noogy on the head. It made Duke laugh, struggling to get lose from Diego's grip. While that, Manny and Ellie looked at each other with confused expressions and Sid smiled. The tiger stopped as he putted Duke down and spoke to Sid in a joking way. "You can go play in mud", Diego said to Sid. "We...are gonna party with this little dude."

Sid gave Diego an unimpressed look, and Duke smiled. "Well actually", Duke said. "I can't stay around here long. I gotta be back at sunset. I'm glad to make new friends, though."

"It's fine, champ", Diego said. Manny then came in suspiciously, trying to talk Duke out of trusting Diego. "Hey", Manny said to Duke, with sarcasm. "Haven't your parents taught you not to talk to strangers?"

"And haven't _your _parents taught you not to be a party pooper", Diego asked Manny.

"And haven't _your _parents taught you not to act like a stranger", Manny asked Diego.

"Dad", Peaches argued as she came in. "Don't be rude. I mean, he's our new friend. Do you really treat weasels like that?"

"Please, Peaches", Manny replied. "Don't even get me started about the one we met down in the Dinosaur World."

"Whatever," Diego said.

When Manny mentioned 'Dinosaur World', Duke became curious. "Dinosaur World", he quizzed.

"Yeah", Sid said. "We'll tell you more about it later."

"And ignore my dad", Peaches said as she came to Duke. "He can be often grouchy."

"Say", Diego said. "Ya starving, little dude? 'Cause we got a six-pack right here." Diego then pulled out and showed Duke six raw fish tied to a string. Duke smiled big and licked his lips. "Sweet", Duke boasted.

"We have gone fishing", Sid said. "And we thought we'd save some for a new friend. So what're we waiting for? Let's fry these babies up, shall we?"

"Can't wait", Duke said happily. Sid and Diego walked back to the others so they could get ready to cook the fish. Peaches went over to Duke. "Hi, Duke", she said. "So, why do you say you're lonely. You have no friends, don't you?"

Truthfully and sadly, Duke responded by shaking his head. Peaches felt bad for him as she petted him on the head with her trunk and said "Aww, Duke". Duke smiled a bit, feeling cheered up. Suddenly, a snowball flew and hit Peaches. She laughed as she saw who threw it, and it was Crash and Eddie!

"Snowball fight", Crash shouted playfully. The twins continued throwing snowballs as Peaches took Duke and went into a hiding place, behind a big pile of snow for a fort.

"Tell ya what", Peaches said to Duke. "Until Sid and the others get done making lunch, how bout we have some fun?"

Duke smiled and nodded. "Sure", he laughed as he and Peaches started making snowballs. The two then started throwing them back at Crash and Eddie. They kept throwing and throwing, and then Duke managed to hit Crash. "Yes", Duke said happily.

"Wow", Peaches laughed with amazement. "Nice shot, Duke!"

"Thanks", Duke chuckled. They then continued their snowball fight, and they had lots of fun. Later at dawn, there weren't anymore snowball fighting. Instead the entire herd, including Duke, were gathered around a campfire. Duke, the twins, and Diego were enjoying some freshly cooked fish. The teenage weasel was enjoying his meal delightfully while Diego looked at him with a confused smile. "Wow", Diego chuckled. "You sure are a big fan of fish, aren't ya?"

Duke nodded as he continued to eat. Ellie, in a friendly way, wanted to speak too. "So, Duke", she asked. "How is life with you and your family?" Duke wasn't listening as he still continued to eat. Ellie looked at him with a confused expression, and she called on him. "Duke?!"

It finally caught his attention as Duke looked at Ellie, although there was food in his mouth and then he swallowed it. "Sorry", he said with a nervous smile. "I just couldn't get enough of this scrumptious fish. I never had this stuff for a long time."

"Yeah", Diego chuckled. "It's how we, carnivores, rule! We eat meat like a boss, baby!"

"Right", Duke said with an eyebrow raised. He then turned back to Ellie so she could continue. "So what were you saying, Ellie?"

"As I was saying", Ellie said. "How is life with you and your family?"

"Eh", Duke replied with an unimpressed expression. "Sometimes, okay. Most of the time, downhill."

"Really", Sid asked. "How come?"

"Well", Duke continued. "My father is a fantastic warrior. He wields an amazing blade that was made out his enemy's tooth. That, I can start with..."

Diego's eyes widened and he stopped eating as if what Duke said reminded him about a certain someone. "Whoa, really", he asked while a bit eager. "That reminds me of someone I met from the Dinosaur world underground."

"Really", Duke asked. "Who? And what was it like down in the Dinoaur world?"

"Well first", Ellie said. "How 'bout you continue with your life story? Then we can talk about it."

"Right", Duke replied. Manny was relieved and he thought, _The subject with that crazy adventure we had in the Dino world can most definitly wait._ Duke then continued. "My father is a fantastic warrior, but not perfect. Please don't tell him I said all this, though."

"We won't", Sid promised. "You can trust us."

Duke then once again continued. "Anyways, he's not perfect because he barely ever agrees with me. That's one. Secondly he barely ever cheers me up when I need it, nor does my mom. I always be feeling lonely and left out. Like I told Peaches, I don't have any friends."

"You poor baby", Ellie said, feeling bad for Duke. "Why don't you have any friends?"

"Well", Duke continued. "I _had_ friends, actually. Most had to move on, some betrayed me. I used to be picked on big time because of them. The only friend I have now is Ned, although he can be so annoying and spoiled."

"Boy", Diego said with sarcasm. "I can't imagine. He could be as annoying as Sid here, could he?"

"Diego", Sid argued angrily to Diego, glaring at him. Diego laughed and Duke giggled, but then the weasel calmed down his laughter as he continued. "Okay, okay. Anyways Ned's parents are friends with my parents too, although they couldn't understand me either."

"Say", Manny said as Duke took a bite from his fish. "Speaking of your parents, didn't you say they wanted you home by sunset...which is now?"

Duke stopped chewing with a shock expression. He then spitted out his food and glanced at the sun, noticing that it's dawn. "Oh my God", he said while worried. He then stood up and dropped his unfinished salmon. "I'd better get back! If I don't, my parents'll really let me have it!"

He began walking around in circles, worried and uncomfortable. Diego went towards him and stopped him. "Whoa, now", he said. "Chillax, weasel bro. No need to be hasty."

Duke looked up at Diego eagerly and needed help. "Quick", he said with haste. "Which way did we come from? You guys have to take me back!"

"Ask the sloth. He and the twins came here with you."

Duke quickly turned to Sid, questioning him. "Well", he asked eagerly. Sid looked around too, nervous. Then he found out and pointed at a certain direction. "That direction", Sid replied. "I'm pretty sure we came from that way!"

Duke swiftly climbed up onto Sid's shoulder and began to rush him. "Step on it", he demanded while still worried.

"Okay, okay", Sid said with a confused expression. "Hold your horses!"

Diego then rushed through underneath Sid, plopping him and Duke onto his back. "You're actually gonna need me, kid", Diego said, unimpressed of Sid. "Because unlike Sid, I'm like a fast snow sled." Diego began rushing ahead with Sid and Duke to the direction Sid pointed, and the two held on tightly. A few minutes of traveling had past, and they were still on the go. They could then see smoke rising from a far away distance.

"Look", Sid shouted as he pointed at it. "Smoke!"

"Smoke", Duke quizzed. "What happened?! What's going on?!"

They rushed towards it. When they got to where the smoke was coming from, they stopped. Duke's eyes widened and his heart was beating fast as he was severely shocked, and he couldn't believe what he witnessed. His house which the beavers worked hard on had been destroyed and in flames. Sid and Diego had shocked expressions too. "W-Wha", Sid quizzed. "Duke's house...wasn't like that when I came over! I swear it wasn't!"

"Christ", Diego said. "I can really tell, Sid. I can really tell…."

Sid then looked down, and saw something else. "Look", he said, pointing at something else. "Pawprints!" He and Diego looked and Duke heard him, there were pawprints coming from the destroyed house - bloody pawprints, too. It turned out that not just the house was destroyed but his parents, Hunter and Rita, were murdered and eaten too.

"Wolves", Diego said sternly. "They must have done this..."

"Oh my God", Duke mumbled as he hopped off of Diego's back and went in front of the destroyed house. He started sheding tears and he fell on his knees. He then got on his hands and tried not to cry, but failed. Sid kneeled down to Duke and petted him softly, comforting him. "Shhh", the sloth said, rubbing the poor unfortunate weasel from his head down to his back. "It's okay to cry. You can let it out. I know how it feels to lose a family."

As Duke continued to cry, the rest of the herd caught up and saw what had happened. They all had sad, shocked expressions just looking at the torn-down house. Manny and Ellie hugged each other along with Crash, Eddie, and Peaches. "Oh my Goodness", Peaches said sadly. "Mom…how could this happen…to Duke? And why?"

"I don't know, baby", Ellie replied, hugging and holding her daughter close. "But this is…horrible…"

"Yeah", Manny said sadly. "And it sucks tragically…."

While crying, Duke's mind came back to when Sid came over. He thought what he chose to do was a bad decision for him. "Why", Duke asked while still filled with tears. "Why…did I leave them? I could have stayed…so I could go down with them…This was all my fault…"

"Hey, dude", Diego said as he came towards Duke. "Don't talk like that. You made the right choice. You saved your own life. If it wasn't for Sid, then who will be your avenger?"

"Yeah…but…" Just then, Duke heard a voice calling for him in head. It was Hunter's voice. _Duke, my boy…_Duke stopped and stared blankly in space, listening and responding. "Father", he quizzed.

The herd saw and heard Duke as they all glanced at each other with surprised expressions, then they looked back at him. Hunter's voice continued and Duke listened. _The saber-tooth tiger is right. You mustn't talk that way. Don't ever give up in life on me, Duke. You have to stay strong…like a manly weasel. Don't ever forget that, my son._

Duke's crying calmed down and he nodded. "Yes, sir", he replied.

_Now go into the house and grab the blade I have dropped…_

Duke got up back on his feet and started to do what his father said. He went into the destroyed house carefully, and saw the wolf-toothed blade Hunter dropped that was stabbed into the ground. With determination, Duke grabbed it by the handle and pulled it out. Duke then gripped it with both hands tightly and closed his eyes in hatred, imaging Ripper in his head and wanting to get back at him. Sid and Diego glanced at each other once again, and Sid turned to Duke and tried to calm him down. "Duke", Sid called. "Please, calm down. There's no need for vengeance, especially against such vicious, scary wolves! We can talk about it later, can we?!"

Hunter's voice spoke once again in Duke's mind, agreeing with Sid. _He is right, Duke. You can't just dart off at Ripper right now. You'll need some serious training. You will have to turn down your hatred for now and save it…_

Duke then calmed down and so did his grip. He sighed and held the blade on his shoulder. "Alright", he said. Taking the knife with him, he then turned around and walked back to the herd while still sad. Peaches picked Duke up with her trunk and hugged him, comforting him more. "It's okay", she said as Duke hugged back. "We're here for you. We're all here for you."

Duke smiled a tad bit and snuggled Peaches, feeling cheered up and embraced. "Thanks", he said.

"Let's go, everyone" Manny said, looking down sadly. They all turned away from the burning house and they started journeying away through the Ice Age, taking Duke with them. As they did, Duke looked back at the house for a minute and thought, _I'll never forget you, Mom and Dad. But one of these days….Ripper will pay..._


	5. A New World

Chapter 5: A New World

It was night time, and the herd was still traveling through the Ice Age wilderness with Duke although he was still sad and hurt because of the loss of his home and family. He was still carrying his father's blade with him while wanting to avenge him. As they walked, some of the herd members wanted to talk to him more.

"Duke?" Peaches asked. "I'm so sorry again that you lost your home and parents."

"It's fine" Duke said with depression. "Don't worry about it."

"No, Duke" Ellie said. "It's not fine. You'll definitely need someone or some parent to watch over you."

"Well, I guess you're right..." Duke agreed.

"You can join our herd" Sid suggested.

"Well, I dunno..." the young weasel said. "Plus, I dunno if any of you could be parents to me..."

"Ellie and I can" Manny said.

Duke raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, not wanting to agree with them. "Thanks, but no thanks. Pretty much Manny, you can be too much of a jerk to be my father. Sorry, but it was because of how you acted towards me and Diego hours ago."

Manny felt insulted and wore a confused expression, and Ellie was a bit offended. "Well jeez, Duke" Ellie said sternly. "Then I guess it means I can't be your mother as well."

Duke responded by shaking his head, and Sid jumped in. "I can be your father" he said.

"Hmmm..." Duke hummed in thought. "Nah, too clumsy."

"Pick us!" Crash and Eddie shouted, jumping up and down and raising their hands. "Pick us!"

"Uhh..." Duke said. "No...You two...are too crazy. You're probably not old enough and I doubt you have the responsibility."

Duke then turned to everyone but Diego and sighed. "Everyone, look. I'm sorry to criticize you guys about it. It's just that I would like someone whose just like my real father. A father that is tough, brave, and adventurous."

Diego smiled and stepped in. "That's me, kid. I can be your dad."

Duke turned to Diego and shrugged with a smile. "Huh. Sure. Having a saber-tooth tiger as a father would be awesome."

"Yep. You can count on me, weasel dude. I'll make the best, coolest dad you'd ever-."

Diego was cut off by Crash and Eddie, who were being playful and both holding a bucket of water.

"Hey, Diego!" Crash shouted. "Heads up!" The twins then splashed the water at the tiger. Diego growled and swiftly dodged it, and the twins laughed. Duke saw the whole and was surprised, but also confused.

"So..." Duke said to Diego with an eyebrow raised. "You're afraid of water?"

Diego growled angrily at Crash and Eddie, then turned to Duke with embarrassment. "Yes...I am..."

Duke sighed and turned away from Diego, lacking interest of him due to his fear of water. The weasel then walked up to a rock and sat on it as he thought, _This just isn't gonna work out. None of them is admirable. At this rate...who will make me feel like family?_

Manny walked up to Duke and putted a trunk on his shoulder. "Look, kid" the male mammoth said. "Even if you're not wanting to join the herd, you might as well. Nobody's perfect, okay? Believe me. One day, you'll make the best of it."

Duke sat up and stared in space for a moment, then turned to Manny sadly. "Fine...Okay..."

Peaches came and wanted to cheer the defeated weasel up. "Say. If you wanna go on an adventure, we can maybe go visit a cave and look around tomorrow morning." She then looked up at Manny, asking for his permission. "Can we, dad?"

"Sure" Manny answered. "I guess it'd be okay. We won't stay for too long, though." Manny turned to Duke, wanting his approval. "Whattaya say, kid?"

Duke, still feeling a bit unimpressed, shrugged and hopped off the rock he was sitting on. "Well, it's better than nothing."

As Manny and Peaches walked back to the others to get some sleep, Sid came to Duke with a warm smile and with something behind his back.

"Hey, Duke" Sid called out as he approached the small teenager. "I made ya something..."

Sid then pulled out and revealed what he was hiding to Duke. It was a wearable weapon holster that was made out of leaves and vines. It also had a shoulder strap so Duke could wear it like a golf club bag. "I made it myself...for you."

Duke smiled a bit with relief as Sid gave the hand-made holster to him and continued explaining. "It's for your weapon. It's so you can hold it hands-free and on the go."

Duke tried it out by putting his wolf-tooth blade in it, and it actually fitted perfectly. "It fits!" Duke said.

Sid smiled warmly as Duke wore the holster. "Glad you like it" the sloth said as he petted Duke. "Now let's get some sleep, shall we?"

Duke nodded, and he climbed up onto Sid's shoulder once again. The two then went back to the herd so they could get some sleep too. The next day, Duke and the herd were already in a cave, exploring. The cave was a tad bit dark, but it was also filled with extraordinary crystals. Everyone was astonished and amazed except Diego and Duke.

"Isn't it beautiful, Dad?" Peaches asked happily.

"Yeah" Manny replied with a shrug. "It's pretty nice."

"They're beautiful!" Crash said.

"Like diamonds in the sky!" Eddie added. "Get it?"

What the twins said turned out to be a joke. Sid laughed, but no one else did. They then glared at the amused sloth, and he stopped nervously. Ellie then turned to the twins with an unimpressed look. "Uhh, nice one, boys..." she commented with sarcasm.

Duke sighed and decided to wander off into the cave a bit, and Diego followed after him. Duke still seemed to be sad about his tragic loss and where his life was because of it, and not even the crystal cave lightened him up. Diego felt his pain a bit, and he spoke to him.

"Trip seems boring, doesn't it?" Diego asked.

Duke turned to the tiger with harsh sadness. "Well, that too" he said. "But heck, you have no idea _at all _what it's like..."

"To be eternally hated and helpless? Heh, tell that to Sid. Sloth's been through a lot, especially with Manny. He most definitely relates to you."

"Really? Huh..."

"Yep. No worries, weasel dude. You're not the only one."

"Great. Thanks, Diego. But..."

Duke turned away from Diego and looked down, back into sadness. Diego then putted a paw on the poor weasel's shoulder. "If that didn't lighten ya up, it's understandable. My life can be downhill, too. Always feeling like a housecat, being forced around by two power-housed mammoths, having to put up with a certain sloth and two idiot opossums...Life can be a real pain in the batteries."

"Tell me about it! From being picked-on to being neglected, from being annoyed by your "friend" to losing your parents and home! My life..."

Diego smiled and wanted to mention something interesting. "Say, wanna know something that stopped making me a housecat?"

Duke was interested as he turned back to Diego and decided to listen. "Sure."

"He was a special friend of mine I used to know. He was a weasel, just like you. He always seek adventure, although he can be quite crazy. He only had one eye and he had a blade that was made out of a dinosaur's tooth..."

"Who was he? He almost sounds just like my dad."

"My man, his name...was Buck. The Incredible Buckminster."

Duke was astonished, and he nodded. "Nice..."

"Sadly though, he chose to stay in the Dinosaur World...which is underground right below your feet."

"Right...He would have made an awesome father to me, though. In other words, I still miss my parents." Duke continued to walk along the cave sadly, and Diego still followed him.

"I understand", Diego said. "But hey, we all know what it feels like to lose someone who means a lot to ya...?"

"Yeah" Duke answered, picking up a rock. "Except you become homeless...with nothing to do and nothing to live for..."

Duke then threw the rock far into the cave's tunnel. As the rock hit the ground loudly, the teenage weasel sighed and Diego placed a paw on his shoulder. Just then, Duke and Diego heard cracking from somewhere. The two wore surprised looks and they looked across the icy floor, seeing cracks coming towards them and noticing that the ice they're standing on is beginning to break. To them, it seemed that it was due to Duke's thrown rock.

"D-Did I do that?" Duke asked as he and Diego took some steps back.

"Crap!" Diego exlaimed. "It doesn't matter! Either way, RUN!"

Duke and Diego turned around and began running, and the ice started shattering. The two ran for their lives, outrunning the shattering ice and escaping the thin-iced area. While Diego was ahead of Duke, the breaking ice got closer and closer to the weasel. Diego luckily made it out of the area, but Duke didn't unfortunately. The ice shattered below him, and Duke fell in. Duke screamed as he fell, and Diego ran toward the huge hole the unfortunate weasel fell in and looked down into it.

"DUUUUUUKE!" Diego roared loudly.

"DIEEEEEGOOOOO!" Duke screamed as he fell and disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

Losing contact with Diego and the herd, Duke continuously fell and screamed. There weren't any water luckily, but only darkness. Later, there was then light. As Duke fell, there were trees, plants, and other jungle-related stuff below him. Duke then fell into the trees, bumping and slamming into branch after branch. He kept going "Ow! Ouch! Ah! Oof! OW!" as he fell. This kept on until Duke landed on a huge leaf. While unconscious, Duke rolled off the leaf onto the ground softly and he lied there.

Later, Duke woke up slowly. He was covered in bruises and a little bit of cuts due to that long fall he went through. While in a bit of pain, he got back on his feet and looked around.

"W-Where am I?" Duke asked himself.

As he looked, he saw a lot of amazing things. There were dinosaurs everywhere! From meat-eating ones to plant-eating ones, from flying ones to rhino-like ones. There were also big plants, trees, rocky hills and mountains, volcanoes, and many other jungle stuff. Duke couldn't believe his eyes, and he was amazed and astonished. He found out that he was no longer in the Ice Age world, but is now in the Dinosaur World underground.

"So this is the Dinosaur World the herd was talking about..." Duke said.

He could definitely tell because of the dinosaurs everywhere. Duke attempted to walk, but then felt pain in his arm. He looked and saw that there was an almost-big cut on his arm due to his fall through the trees. Duke grabbed hold of it in agony and he continued to walk, exploring the new world he's in.

Duke walked through the jungle, looking around at the dinosaurs and plants and everything else. He was really amazed and astonished by the huge reptiles. He glanced at every reptile and plant as he strolled. Duke then came up to a cliff, and could view the whole Dino World from it.

"Whoah..." he said as his mind was blown by the scenery. But then he grabbed onto his arm as he felt more agony from his arm and his other wounds. "This world is brilliant, but I'm just hoping there's someone out there who can help heal these bruises and crap. I wish coming into this world didn't involve falling."

Suddenly he heard growling and felt some disgusting gooey liquid getting on him. He was nervous as he slowly turned around and looked up. He found out that the liquid was actually drool, and they were coming from two tall, monsterous guanlongs who're glaring at the weasel with hunger! One lowered it's head down at Duke and growled, and the other licked it's lips. Duke was wide-eyed and startled by the two reptiles, and he smiled nervously.

"Well I guess there's not enough room for a mammal in this world, is there?" he asked nervously.

The two guanlongs then roared at the teenage weasel, and he turned around and ran for his life. He ran and the guanlongs chased after him, from valley to valley. A minute of running has passed and Duke came up to a dead end unfortunately, which was a huge rocky wall. He turned around and witnessed the guanlongs walking towards him, drooling and smiling evilly. There was only one the Duke could do, and he pulled out his wolf-toothed blade and pointed it at the deadly reptiles.

"G-Get back!" Duke threatened with a bit of fear. "I'm not afraid to use this!"

It had no affect against the guanlongs as they came closer to Duke, ready to eat him. Just then, a loud monsterous roar was heard. The guanlongs turned right while wide-eyed, and then they ran away cowardly. Duke wondered who or what it was and he also turned right. It was a huge T-Rex, and it approached Duke while glaring at the greedy guanlongs.

Duke was still wide-eyed and a bit scared. "Umm…Th-Thanks?"

The T-Rex then faced Duke and lowered it's head down at him. Duke was uncomfortable, and he pointed the blade at the huge dinosaur. "Don't make me…I'm warning you..."

Foolishly, Duke knew a small blade wouldn't work on such a huge dinosaur. He turned his head and closed his eyes, ready to face his end. But strangely, the T-Rex didn't hurt nor eat Duke. Instead, it started licking the wound on his arm, healing it.

Duke gasped a bit, and was curious about the dinosaur. _Is this dinosaur…suppose to be friendly? _He thought.

Duke then putted his blade back in his holster and let the T-Rex heal his wound. It then stopped, and Duke smiled nervously and started petting it on the muzzle. "Thanks, mister or misses dino."

Suddenly, the T-Rex grabbed Duke on the back with its mouth and picked him up. It then began to walk off, taking the young weasel with it. "Hey! Put me down! Where are you taking me?!"

Duke wiggled and squirmed in the T-Rex's grasp, and it still walked away in the jungle with him.

* * *

**Well, that's it for this chapter. I will be doing more soon.**


	6. Meeting the Dinohunter

**Sorry it took me so long to right this chapter, everyone. I had a lot of work to do, mostly school stuff. I'm not the fastest fanfic nor chapter writer. ^^; Anyways, here's the sixth chapter of my Ice Age fanfic. Enjoy.^^**

Chapter 6: Meeting the Dinohunter

The T-Rex that saved Duke took the young weasel with it further into the Dino world. Duke was still wiggling and struggling to get out of the giant reptile's grasp. The T-Rex went further and further away with him, until they came into a cave then up to a big nest. The nest inside the cave had three teen-grown dinos playing around in it, and Duke was shocked to see them. It turned out that the T-Rex seems to be a mother. Was the T-Rex going to feed him to her children...after saving his life?

Duke smiled nervously, afraid of what the dinosaur might do to him. "Umm", he said while also laughing nervously. "Nice, cute kids you have..." The T-Rex then started lowering Duke down towards her dinos, and they began jumping up and reaching for the weasel happily. Duke hugged onto the mother's grasping mouth fearfully as he was being lowered. "No! Please! Dear God, please don't put me in there!"

But it was too late. The mother T-Rex dropped the poor teenage weasel into the nest with her dino kids. Duke landed in the nest on his back, and the dinos stared at him with cheerful smiles. Duke crawled backwards, laughing nervously. "Yeah know, you guys sure our cute. But...I'm not very good baby food. So, ya may not wanna eat me. I am...food poisoning..."

The three dinos still looked at Duke cheerfully, and he crawled back a bit. He attempted to crawl out of the nest but the mother T-Rex blocked his way and growled at Duke, demanding him to stay in. Duke did as he was told and stayed in, then glanced at the dinos in fear. They still smiled at him, then shouted "Brother!" Duke then wore a confused expression and he was calm. "Brother?" he questioned.

The dinos then glomped and clinged all over the weasel, making him fall to the ground. The poor teenager was overwhelmed as the dinos snuggled him and licked him. He then suddenly giggled as he felt tickles on his feet, and it turned out that two of the dinos were licking them. "Hey", Duke laughed. "That tickles!" They still licked a bit more, then all over his face and they continued snuggling. Duke was cheered up and he laughed more. He actually felt like family, and he hugged the dinos back. The T-Rex smiled warmly and nuzzled Duke, who's leaned back onto the nest with her kids cuddled on him. Duke was relaxed and comfortable as he said "I'm your brother..." with a warm smile. In his life, he never had a brother nor even a sister. Now that the three dinos wanted him to be one, he felt happy.

The mother T-Rex then licked Duke comfortably, and he felt more like family as he looked up at her with a cheerful smile. "Thanks so much...Mom", he said happily. "Is that right, or is it 'Momma'...or maybe 'Momma Dino'?" She and her dino kids all nodded, answering Duke's question. Momma then walked away into the world, and it made Duke curious with an eyebrow raised. "Uhh...maybe she's getting us some food?" he questioned. The weasel then shrugged, and turned to the three dinos.

"So guys, whattaya wanna do...or play?" Duke asked as he stretched. The dinos smiled and did the exact same thing Duke did. The weasel wore a surprised look, then smiled with a fun idea. Duke raised both his arms up, then the dinos did the same thing. Duke giggled, then reached for his back and scratched it. After him, the dinos reached for their back and scratched it too. Duke was having fun, until he felt pain in his cut wound. He grabbed it quickly with agony. "Oww!" he complained. "I forgot about my wound."

Just then, the three dinos copied Duke and grabbed their tiny arms too, imitating his pain. Duke looked back at him, then smiled nervously with embarrassment. "O-Okay, guys", he said. "That's enough playtime. I'm hurting right now, so..." One of the dinos then ran behind Duke and nudged him forward, begging him to play some more. The poor teenager felt sorry, but still didn't want to play.

"Guys?" Duke said nervously. "C'mon now. I don't wanna play anymore. I have a pretty bad cut on my...well, you may not wanna see it anyways. But please, I really need a..." The dinos then made big puppy eyes. Duke couldn't stand how cute and innocent they looked, and he didn't want to say "no" to such sweet faces. He looked back at his wound, then letted out a long sad sigh. "Okay", he accepted. The dinos then smiled and roared happily as they ran back to the nest, but then Duke looked back at his wound sadly. "Can this get any worse?" Duke asked himself. He then started walking forward, but suddenly tripped on a rock. He fell and hit the ground, then screamed and grabbed onto his arm because he felt more pain in arm. "I...had to ask, did I?" the poor teenager asked. He then got back up and walked back to the nest with the dinos, feeling humiliated.

Almost an hour had passed, and Duke and the three dinos were play-fighting and playing tag the whole time. Before playing with the dinos, Duke had already wrapped a leaf bandage around the wound on his arm although it wasn't wrapped in the best way. Just then, there were small earthquakes and stomping heard. The four stopped as it got closer and showed itself, and it revealed to be Momma. She came back with something in her jaws, and she dropped it near Duke and the dinos. It was a dead guanlong she hunted herself, and she brought it back for her kids and Duke to feast on as meat. The dead guanlong had flies flying all over it, meaning it's also odorous. The baby dinos smiled widely and licked their lips, but Duke didn't since he was disgusted. The dinos ran to the dinosaur meat and began devouring it. Duke didn't know what to do since it was the only thing Momma brought back to eat. "Ehh", Duke said with disgust. "Do I really have to eat that?"

Momma nudged the weasel toward the dinosaur meat telling him to eat, and Duke knew he had no choice. He sighed and walked over to the meat with the three dinos. "Ah well", he said with a shrug. "Might as well. It's better than nothing." He then tore off the waist part of the guanlong meat and took a small bite. As he chewed, he made a bit of funny, disgusted faces. To him, it mostly tasted bitter but somewhat like chicken. He swallowed with some struggle, and he panted. _I guess it wasn't too bad. _He thought. _Well...except the swallowing part. I should eat more, though... _Duke then continued to eat with the dinos, fighting against the taste and odor.

Later at nighttime, the dead guanlong was nothing but bones. Duke and the dinos were all lying around in the nest, full and stuffed from their dinner. "Boy, that was some meal", Duke said. "Well it wasn't the best, but at least I had _something_ to eat." The three dinos then sat beside the weasel and snuggled up on him, tired and sleepy. They yawned, and so did Duke. "Guess it's time to get some shuteyes, huh?" he asked. Momma then lied down beside Duke and her kids. Her babies leaned against her comfortably, and so did Duke. "Well goodnight, guys", Duke said as he yawned once again. He then looked at Momma with a warm smile. "Goodnight, Momma." Momma responded nicely but giving Duke a warm lick, and they all fell asleep.

The next day came, and it was morning. Duke woke up and strectched, ready to start the day. "Morning, guys", Duke said. "Morning, Momma...Huh? Momma?" Duke sat up and looked around the cave, it turned out that Momma and her three kids weren't there with him. He was alone in the cave, and they my have left without him. Duke grabbed and putted on his weapon holster, then ran outside and looked around some more. "Momma?! Guys?! Where'd you go?! Pfft, nice way to leave without me. Neither of them even woke me up. Quite some responsibility..." Duke folded his arms and began tapping his foot, trying to figure out what else to do in the Dinosaur World.

Suddenly, there were more small earthquakes from far away behind Duke. He was surprised, but then thought it was Momma. _Well it's about time_, he thought. Duke turned around as the stomping got closer. Strangely, the stomps sounded more mighty and furious than Momma's. There was also growling and Duke started taking steps back, filled with fear. _Uhh...I don't think that's Momma, _he thought. The mysterious dinosaur then finally showed itself. It revealed to be an albino baryonyx! Duke's jaw dropped, and he was speechless. The baryonyx lowered it's head down at Duke with a furious, monsterous expression. The young weasel was still too scared to talk, nor did he know what to do. He would run back into the cave, but it looked like the white dinosaur could fit into the cave like Momma can. Duke smiled nervously at the baryonyx, bit then it roared loudly at the weasel. With such shock, Duke then turned around and ran into the dino jungle. As he ran, the baryonyx began chasing after him.

Duke ran and ran through the jungle, and baryonyx still chased him. While the chase, the white dinosaur raised a claw and attempted to strike Duke. The dinosaur struck, but it's attack actually missed Duke and instead chopped down a tree. Duke continued to run, but then the baryonyx swung it's tail and hit him. He screamed in agony as he flew threw the air and slammed against a tree. Duke's vision was getting blurry, and the leaf bandage he wrapped on his wound was torn apart and it fell off his arm. Duke was starting to lose consciousness, unable to continue running as the baryonyx came approaching him. Just when the baryonyx was going to kill Duke, a mysterious mustiled swung on a vine and grabbed the teenage weasel, saving him. The mustiled then swung up to a tree branch with Duke and tossed berry bombs at the baryonyx. They exploded and blinded the white dinosaur for a chance to escape. The mustiled swung away from the baryonyx with Duke, but then the teenage weasel became unconcsoius.

Later, Duke slowly woke up. He sat up and looked around. He was still in the Dinosaur World, but in a different part of it. _Where am I now? _Duke thought. He then looked on his wounded arm and there was another leaf bandage wrapped around it, instead it was tightly and perfectly wrapped. _Wow, _he thought. _Who ever saved me and brought me here sure did a better job on covering my wound. _Duke rubbed the bandage to feel it's tightness, but then there was a voice.

"I wouldn't want to uncover my wound, mate" the voice said.

Who ever said that did have a strange British accent. Duke turned around and saw who it was, it was an adult red-brown weasel wearing a leaf eyepatch, revealing that it only has one eye. The one-eyed weasel also had two big sharp teeth sticking out of the lower part of his mouth, and his eye was navy blue. Duke was startled, but then became suspicious. He reached and grabbed the handle of his wolf-tooth blade without pulling it out, being cautious.

"Calm down now, kid" the weasel said with both of his hands raised in defense. "There's no need to panic nor fear."

"Who are you?" Duke questioned sternly. "And why did you save me?"

"Well lad, I didn't want to see a kiddo like you become dino meat to my all-time rival" the weasel laughed. "Tha name's Buck. Short for Buckminster, long for Buh."

The weasel had an interesting name, but still seemed suspicious to Duke. Buck also had some kind of strange blade almost similar to Duke's. The one-eyed weasel held the weapon on his shoulder as he continued. "So lad, what's a kiddo like you doing down here anyways?"

"I fell down here" Duke explained, still having suspicion. "It was how I got this wound on my arm. Why?"

Buck then wore a warm, friendly smile. "In that case mate, welcome to my world! A place where dinosaurs roam and..." There was then a silence as the camera zooms into Buck's head. "...ya may not come back out alive..."

Duke then wore a confused expression with an eyebrow raised. _Geez, _he thought. _Someone's just now coming to tell me that? _After his thoughts, the teenage weasel began talking again. "What do you mean I won't come back out alive?"

"No worries, lad. You won't unless ya come with me on an adventure. I'll lead ya back out of this world in no time!" Buck said with a wink.

"Well I wasn't really looking into that since I just got here, and then I got saved and adopted by a motherly dinosaur. But an adventure sounds okay, I guess."

"Brilliant, mate!" Buck shouted with a jump. He then putted his hand on Duke's shoulder in a friendly way. "Hehe! Welcome aboard!"

A bit impressed, Duke's suspicious expression disappeared and he letted go of the handle of his blade. He then rubbed the back of his head with a nervous smile. "Umm...thanks" he said.

"No problem, kiddo! But you must follow my rules in the way."

Duke was a bit glad there were rules, especially since the world he's in is full of danger. He shrugged and he said "Hit me."

Buck stood up straight like a man, and he began explaining. "Rule #1: Always listen to Buck."

Duke nodded, and Buck went on.

"Rule #2: Stay in the middle of the trail.

Rule #3: He who has gas travels at the back of the pack..."

Duke felt dumb-founded. "Why exactly would I have gas? That's ridicul-..." He cutted himself off as he then thought it through. He took a big step back, blushing and smiling nervously. "Well, it's just in case...Anyways, sorry. Go on."

"Right" Buck said as he cleared his throat and continued his rules.

"Rule #4: Let us get our brains examined..."

Duke wore a confused expression again, and was more dumb-founded. "Uhh...by that you mean 'be smart', right? Or do you mean something else?"

Buck shrugged. "Eh, I actually got that from a mammoth I helped a long time ago. I don't remember much, but boy was he a bloody, uncooperative jerk!"

"Oh...wow" Duke said, rubbing the back of his head. "I can definitely see that. Anymore rules, by the way?"

"Ah, yes!" Buck said as he flipped his knife in the air and caught it by the handle.

"And Rule #5: You can ignore Rule #2 if there is a female involved, or a cute dog."

Duke became confused because of Buck's fifth rule. It was hard for him to believe that Buck would find a dog or a female of his kind in such a world full of reptiles. Duke chose to agree with and follow the one-eyed weasel's rules, anyway. "Okay" he said with a shrug. "Understood. By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Duke."

"Duke, huh?" Buck questioned while rubbing his small, beard-like chin. The deranged hermit then extended his arm to the young mustiled. "Pleasure to meet ya, mate."

Duke wore a nervous smile as he shook Buck's hand. "Pleasure to meet you too, Buck" he replied.

"Right-o!" Buck said as he quickly turned around, and Duke walked up beside him. "Now come along, mate! Let us _duke _it out on an adventure! Get it? _Duke _it out?"

Buck laughed, and Duke wasn't very amused. Duke wore an unimpressed expression and he crossed his arms. _Well geez, _he thought sternly with sarcasm. _Nice way to use my name. Very funny, Buck. Very funny…_

Buck then ruffled Duke's head cheerfully. "I'm just kiddin' ya, lad!" he laughed. "C'mon. An adventure awaits us!"

Buck began leading the way into the jungle and Duke followed although he still had some suspicion left in him. He wondered whether or not he should trust the one-eyed weasel or not. The teenager was kept deep into thought about it as he and Buck went on and began their adventure throughout the Dinosaur World.

**This did take me more than four weeks to write. Hope you enjoyed it so far, and I will work on the next chapter soon. Plus, I had to at least make Momma's three baby dinos grown into teens since Peaches is one now. Also, making Buck in-character won't be all that easy from here on out. Hope I did on this chapter. :(**


	7. Saved Again

**Sorry for the long wait. It was mostly due to school work and real-life stuff. Like I said last chapter, I'm not the fastest fanfic writer. ^^; Anyways, here's seventh chapter of my fanfic. Enjoy.**

Chapter 7: Saved Again

Back up in the Ice Age world, the herd was strolling along the icy wilderness. Diego felt bad about losing Duke yesterday back in the cave, and everyone else was upset.

"So you lost Duke?" Manny asked Diego sternly.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault" Diego argued.

"You were with him when he fell, weren't you?" Ellie asked. "Then you letted him wander off into the cave!"

"Hey, at least I _was_ guarding him" Diego added.

Sid smirked deviously at Diego and crossed his arms. "Well, who needs to go play in mud now?"

Diego glared at Sid and moaned sternly with annoyance. "Well at least I'm not as irresponsible as when I had dino eggs and-."

"Up up up!" Sid interrupted. "They were _my _kids and _I _had full responsibility of them. Who took them to Momma? Me! Who lost Duke? You! Any questions?"

Sid then walked on ahead of Diego in a 'haters gonna hate' way and the herd stared at him with confused looks, although Diego still glared at him. "I have a question alright..." Diego said.

"What's that?" Manny asked.

"When can I ever get a break from stupidity in my life…?" the tiger responded with a sigh.

Diego continued walking, and Peaches was walking between her parents. She was worried about Duke and sad about him too.

"Mom, Dad?" Peaches questioned her parents. "Might Duke be okay?"

"I'm sure he is, sweetie" Ellie replied.

"Well Diego said he fell through the ice back in the cave. I'm so worried about him! Where might he have fallen?!"

Ellie shushed her daughter and hugged her warmly, calming her down and comforting her. "It's okay, Peaches" Ellie said. "Let's not give up hope for him."

"Yeah" Manny said. "Don't let it bother you throughout the day. We may have lost contact with him, but at least we haven't lost his friendship..."

"..Nor his heart" Ellie added with a smile and a wink.

"Well yeah" Peaches said. "But…I feel bad for him losing his parents. He doesn't deserve to lose his life too…"

"Everything'll be okay, Peaches" Manny said, petting his daughter. "Once again, don't let it bother you throughout the day."

"Yes sir" Peaches replied with a sigh and with her head down. With that, Manny and Ellie glanced at each other with worried looks. While on top of Ellie's head, Crash and Eddie sat there, sad and broken hearted.

"We miss Duke" Crash said sadly.

"He was starting to become fun-loving...and trusting..." Eddie said.

"I can't believe he just fell to his death..."

"Yeah. We just met him, too."

"Duke didn't die, you two!" Ellie said sternly to the two prankster opossums. "He just fell, that's all..."

Ellie then sighed and shook her head, dumb-founded. Then the two mammoths glanced at Diego and walked towards him. Concerned about what he saw the whole time, they began questioning him.

"Say Diego" Manny questioned. "You said he fell through the ice, right?"

"Yep" the tiger answered with a nod.

The two mammoths thought about it, and Ellie gasped. "Then that means…"

"It's what we think it is, isn't it?" Manny questioned, unimpressed.

Joining in the conversation, Crash & Eddie slid down and landed on Ellie's tusks with eagerness.

"If that's so…" Crash said.

"…Then he might be in the Dinosaur World!" Eddie said.

Manny and Ellie glanced at each other once again, then back at the twin opossums. "Yeah…"

"Oh my God! Lucky!" Crash said.

"I know!" Eddie said. "But hey, hopefully he'll meet Buck. Then he'll go on an adventure of a lifetime, man!"

"Yeah! We miss Buck too, but at least Duke can have fun and enjoy him while he can."

Ellie rolled her eyes and Manny facepalmed. "I was hoping they wouldn't bring that up again, especially the weasel…." Manny said.

"They are my idiot brothers…" Ellie said.

"Maybe they're right. Duke really could be down there…with the dinosaurs…"

"Now I'm just as worried about him as Peaches is. Hope he'll be able to survive down there…"

"…And hope he can get use to Buck's craziness."

Manny and Ellie both sighed and continued walking with the rest of the herd.

* * *

Back down in the Dinosaur World, Buck and Duke were strolling throughout the jungle. Duke still didn't feel much comfortable with his new adult friend, but still chose to go with him since he saved his life. He, in fact, had not thanked him for it yet, but felt a bit too shy to do so. While rubbing his arm, Duke glanced at Buck and started talking.

"Hey, Buck" Duke asked a bit hesitantly. "Thanks…for saving my life…"

"No problem, mate" Buck said cheerfully. "Anything for a newcomer or tourist."

"Oh, and thanks for taking care of my wound too."

"'Ey, no problem at all kiddo" Buck said, ruffling Duke's head.

Duke smiled for a bit, but then changed it since he was still suspicious about Buck. He also wondered what another weasel of his kind is doing in the world of the dinosaurs.

"Say" Duke said. "Are we the only weasels down here in this world, or do other weasels live here?"

"Truthfully sonny, we're the only ones" Buck replied. "In fact I was always the only one and mammal down here, until the other mammals came…and now you."

Duke wore a confused look. "Okay…Why that?"

"Kid, I've been down here for a **long** time, where all the adventure lives. All the excitement, thrills, danger, and dinosaurs to hunt, and I like it! Free, beautiful, dangerous, crikey."

"So let me get this straight. You're more of an adventure guy, mostly because _you_ fell down here into the dinosaur world too and been down here for quite a while."

"Aye. All the danger down here just always makes my day. Dinosaurs, volcanoes, even man-eating plants like that one that has your leg!"

"Right. So I'm guessing this world means alo-…wait, what?!"

Duke looked down and noticed his ankle all tied up by vines. They were vines leading to a huge, living plant! It's vines started pulling on and dragging Duke towards it, and the young weasel quickly draws his blade and stuns it into the ground. He grabbed onto it as hard as he could and it stopped the vines from tugging him any further, but they kept pulling on him.

"Buck?!" Duke quizzed while panicking. "A little help….Please?! I'll do any-THIIIIIIING!"

It was too late. The vines pulled mighty hard to the point where Duke's knife popped back out of the ground and the poor teenage weasel lost grip of it. The plant, with it's vines, dragged Duke further towards it and slowly swallowed him. Duke was then trapped inside of the plant, kicking, struggling, and screaming for help. Buck stepped forward and smiled with determination, spinning his knife in his hand.

"Well then" Buck said. "Once again, it's time to get….._Buckwild_!"

Willing to save Duke, Buck leaped onto the plant's vines and ran across them like a squirrel running across powerlines. As he got closer to the plant Duke's trapped in, he leaped high up in the air above the plant and came down diving by twirling and twisting like a drill. The one-eyed weasel then managed to get into the plant, but not all the way. The upper half of his body was inside the plant, but his lower part was sticking out. Duke looked up at him with a confused look along with an awkward silence, then he raised a finger and was about to say something. Just before Duke made his comment, Buck stopped him by saying "Please, kid. Don't even get me bloody started on this part…"

Duke shrugged and helped Buck in by taking his hands and pulling him. Buck completely made it in, and Duke crossed his arms with impatience. "Well, any strategies on how to get us outta here?"

"Hold your guanlongs, mate" Buck said. "As if I can remember, there were two wires I can cut in plants like these. There should be some in this mother..."

"Great. Can you maybe be quick about it and find them? 'Cause the smell in here is monsterously unbareable, and there's no telling what'll happen if we stay in here too long. Mostly because the water's rising, or whatever liquid it is!"

There was plant acid in the plant, and it was starting to rise up a bit quickly. Buck nodded and inhaled a mouthfull of air, then went under the plant's acid and began searching. Buck searched and searched, and the acid kept rising as he did. Duke was filled with fear and getting more impatient as the water rose to his waist.

"Could ya speed it up down there?!" Duke shouted with haist.

Buck found the hatch and opened it, and he finally found the two wires. They were in fact different colors: red and blue. Buck was trying to remember which wire did the trick back then, and he tried cutting the red wire with his knife. It did nothing but make things worse. The acid rose faster and bubbled, covering the entire inside of the plant. Duke held his breath as the acid rose above him, and he begged Buck to hurry in his mind. The one-eyed weasel grabbed his knife, then quickly swam back down to the hatch and cutted the blue wire. Right after he did he swam back up and held Duke in his arms, informing him to brace himself. Duke hugged back and later, the entire plant exploded. It splattered and blasted the two weasels up in the air. The two then started coming back down slowly, with Buck parachuting with a leaf and Duke holding onto him. Duke was coughing and coughing due to holding his breath under the acid for so long, and Buck looked at him with a disgusted look.

"Turn your head, kiddo" Buck told the Duke so he wouldn't cough on him. "Turn your head, and let it all out..."

Duke did so and continued coughing a little more, then they finally landed on the ground slowly. Duke got off of Buck and dusted himself off a bit. They were both quite wet, but relieved that they survived escaping the man-eating plant.

"Phew!" Buck went. "We did it, lad."

"Well actually, _you_ did it" Duke corrected, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous smile. "And once again, thank you. You saved my life...again."

Buck ruffled his head again. "No problem, mate. I've been through this situation before. If it wasn't for me, you could have been digested and your bones would have been what's left of ya."

"DIGESTED?!" Duke shreiked as he quickly took a step back from Buck. "So that liquid, and what we're covered in, was...stomach acid?!"

"Aye. Plant acid."

"Gross! Thank God we made it out just in time though, but…" Duke sniffed himself and then Buck. They both smelled odorous due to the acid. Duke quickly took his nose away and held it with a disgusted look. "Geez! That's just great! Now _we're _monsterously unbareable..."

"Meh. It's the smell of adventure, but it's alright if it doesn't suit ya. Perhaps a quick wash in the lake would?"

"Yes. Definitely. Because wandering around in public smelling like this can be embarrassing..."

"Righto. And for a side item, here's your knife ya dropped." Buck shows Duke his knife and hands it back to him. "I must say though, it is pretty extrordinary-looking and it's quite similar to mines."

Duke nodded as he putted his blade back in his holster. "Thanks. I'll tell you more about it after we clean ourselves off, if it's okay."

"Righto, kiddo. This plant odor isn't gonna clean itself." Buck patted Duke's shoulder and they both walked away into the jungle, heading for the lake. Since Buck saved his life for the second time, Duke started to gain a little more trust to the heroic one-eyed weasel. The teenage weasel smiled at him and began to admire him partially as they went further into the jungle toward the lake.

**That's all for Chapter 7 so far. Hope I've made everyone in character. Anyways the herd seems to be worried about Duke, Buck saved him from the man-eating plant, and Duke started trusting him some more. What else in the Dino World awaits the two weasels? Stay tuned!**


	8. New Chasm of Death

**I'm back with a new chapter. Yeah…I guess it does take me a month each to make a chapter unless it would still count if I make them shorter. Usually, I make each chapter about 2,000 or more words. ^^; In other words, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 8: New Chasm of Death

Later in the Dinosaur World, Buck and Duke were taking turns bathing in the lake in front of the waterfall. Buck was washing himself off while Duke sat on a rock and waited outside the lake turned away. Buck washed himself off good, cleaning off his eyepatch and damaged eye, and splashing water on himself with a wet leaf used as a towel. Later, Buck was finished as he got out of the lake with the leaf towel on his shoulder.

"I'm finished now, mate" Buck said to Duke.

"Finally" Duke said to himself as he got up from the rock. He left his wolf-fang blade and holster behind and went into the lake, then he started bathing himself off. While Duke did so, Buck went over to his blade while he wasn't looking. The one-eyed weasel picked it up and started examining it. While washing, Duke turned and spotted Buck touching his weapon.

"Hey, put that down!" Duke exclaimed, covering himself with another leaf. "Don't touch it!"

"Calm down now, lad" Buck said. "I just wanna take a closer look at your weapon."

"Yeah, but it's not a toy. Plus, it's mine."

"Of coarse, of coarse. But I'm just gonna take a look at it, alright lad?"

Duke wasn't sure if he should trust Buck with Hunter's blade, but he sighed and chose to let him look at it. "Alright, but _please_ be careful and don't try anything funny."

Buck turned around and continued examining the wolf-tooth knife as Duke continued cleaning himself while keeping an eye on the one-eyed weasel. Impressed with Duke's weapon, Buck twirled it in his hand and flipped it in the air.

"I must say lad, your blade is unique!" Buck commented. "Perhaps it's made out of a dinosaur tooth?"

"No, Buck." Duke corrected with a sigh. "It's the fang of a wolf."

"A wolf fang?!" Buck exclaimed as he turned to Duke with a surprised look.

With that Duke covered himself again, blushing and answering him sternly. "Yes Buck, it's a wolf fang!"

Buck turned back to Duke's blade with a mind-blown smile. "Crikey! So this is the tooth of a wolf, eh? Perhaps you could give tha story behind it?"

With Buck turned back around, Duke continued to wash himself. "Well I suppose I could, but I will when I'm done cleaning myself…"

"Righto" Buck said as he layed back on the rock he was sitting on, flipping the knife in his hand with relaxation and patience. Later, Duke finished cleaning himself and he got out of the lake. After drying himself off, he sat beside Buck and the adult weasel gave the knife back to him.

"Thanks" Duke said. "And about the wolf fang, it's not really my weapon nor did I make it. It was my father's."

"Ah. So it was first wielded by ya father, eh?" Buck quizzed, rubbing his bearded chin. "Carry on."

"Yeah. Anyways, here's the story my Dad once told me. It all started back before I was born. There used to be a village where weasels lived along with beavers…"

With that mentioned, Buck's curiousity stopped being upbeat and his smile disappeared for the moment. "Village...?"

Duke nodded.

"Where weasels and beavers…lived?"

Duke nodded again. "Yep."

Buck looked down at his feet and rubbed his head as if he was concerned about what Duke brought up. "Righto...mate" he said hesitantly.

Duke tilted his head with a confused expression. "Umm...is it okay if I go on?"

"Hm...nay. Perhaps I've 'eard enough." With that said, Buck got up and stretched.

"Huh? Why not? I've just started. I haven't even told you whose tooth this was nor how my father got it."

"Well...perhaps you can tell me more about it later, kiddo. For now, an adventure awaits us!"

"Umm...okay, I guess."

Duke wore his holster and putted his blade in it. Buck grabbed his blade too and tilted his head side-to-side, cracking his neck.

"Ready, mate?" Buck asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I am" Duke replied with a nod. "So, where to next?"

"Well, we 'ave already been through the Jungle of Misery which was where we've been through the giant flytrap."

"Oh, so that was the Jungle of Misery? Wish you could have told me that earlier."

"Hm, righto. Next, we go through...the Chasm of Death!"

"The Chasm of Death, huh? Sounds pretty interesting."

"Not quite, mate. It is a long, huge cave. That's why you must follow me and my rules throughout, especially the most important one which is rule #1. And that rule is...

"Easy. Always listen to Buck."

Buck ruffles Duke's head happily. "Fantastic, lad! I knew you were the chum for tha journey!"

"Cool. So uh, let's get going then."

"Actually, could ya hold up for a sec?"

Buck goes over to a tree, and Duke crosses his arms with impatience and sighs. The one-eyed survivalist then stabbed his knife into the tree so it could hold it, picked up a rock, and held it to his ear as if it was a phone and spoke to it.

"Ello?" Buck quizzed to the rock as he held it with his shoulder. "...Oh, ello there lass. What's swash-buckling...?"

Duke stared at Buck with an eyebrow raised, dumbfounded about what the insane weasel was doing. The teenager uncrossed his arms and dropped them while still staring, thinking '_What exactly am I suppose to be looking at...?' _Buck continued on talking on his 'phone'.

"Aye, everything's goin' bucking great! ...Oh, really? Thanks, lass! How thoughtful...Oh, me? Not much. Just on another great adventure...Aye. But hey, this time I 'ave a new critter with me...Oh, you wanna meet 'im? Sure thing, cutie. Here ya are, lad..."

Buck then offered the rock 'phone' to Duke as if his 'caller' wanted to speak with him. Duke's expression became even more confused, and he glanced at the rock then back at Buck.

"Uhh..." Duke muttered with confusion.

"Well, go on" Buck said. "It's ma wife. Don't leave her hangin'."

"Okay, I guess..." Duke took the rock 'phone' and held it to his ear. He already knew he wouldn't be hearing anything since it was only an inanimate object, but he had to pretend and talk to the rock anyways in order to keep Buck pleased.

"Hi,...ma'am" Duke said nervously. "Umm...Pleasure to meet you. I'm Duke...Oh, cool...Thanks...Buck? Heh, yeah...He is pretty cool and admirable. You should definitely consider yourself lucky you married a fine, manly weasel like him..."

Buck smiled at Duke's compliment, and the teenager went on.

"...Oh...Nice! Hehe...Gotta love...romantic times! ...Yeah….Oh, really? Umm….awww. That's nice. Cool….Um…okay. See ya…"

Duke handed the rock 'phone' back to Buck, and the one-eyed weasel took it and putted to his ear again talking on it.

"Did ya enjoy talking with ma new guy?" Buck asked. "….Brilliant! Hehe…Neat! Welp, me and tha kiddo have a lung adventure way ahead of us…Righto…Chao…"

Buck tosses the rock away and took the knife back out of the tree. He then turned to Duke with a smile. "Ready now, lad?"

"Yeah" Duke replied with a nod.

The two weasels walked off into the jungle side to side. While so, Buck glanced at Duke with a nervous expression and while rubbing his arm. He remembered that Duke mentioned a village where weasels and beavers lived, and wondered how Duke knew about it.

_So he knows about tha village, eh? _Buck thought nervously. _Might he be from there, or is he…?_

Buck chose to not bother with it until the time comes, and he continued walking down the jungle with Duke. On the way, they start to pass by a bush full of odd-looking berries. They were purple, and they looked more like pears or eggplants.

"Are those suppose to be eggplants?" Duke asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Nay, those are fruits" Buck answered. "They make pretty good medicine, too. They'll cure any kind of sickness. That's why I take them whenever my health's not lovin' me back."

Duke turned to Buck with curiousity. "Are you sure? Can they really cure anything?"

"Aye, mate. I'm sure of it. Just take a bite, and you'll feel dynamite!" Buck said it with a wink.

Duke wore a confused expression. "Okay...I really don't how that makes sense, but alright I guess..."

Duke shrugged as he and Buck continued on into the jungle. Later, they finally made it up to the edge of the Chasm of Death. Duke still had curiousity in him. "So, why did they call it the Chasm of Death?" he asked.

"Well, we thought of 'Big Smelly Crack', but that just made everybody giggle" Buck answered.

Duke smiled, a bit amused by what Buck thought of it before. "Big Smelly Crack?"

Buck climbed up the vine, then cutted another one that hung over his head. A ribcage then dropped down, startling Duke and making him jump back. "Whoah, what tha...?!" he exclaimed.

Buck then jumped down to the edge. "That's gonna be our ride throughout" the one-eyed weasel said. "Now hop on, kiddo. Don't be afraid."

"I dunno about this" Duke said, unsure if it was safe.

Buck crossed his arms, looking a bit disappointed. "Lad, what's rule number one?"

Duke remembered, and sighed. "Right. Always listen to Buck."

With that said, Duke stepped into the ribcage escalator and Buck leaped on with him. "Now eyes forward, back straight, and if you breathe in the toxic fumes, you'll die."

"Wait, toxic fumes?!" Duke asked.

"Just another day in paradise!"

Buck then cutted the vine that held them in place, and they slid. Duke held on tight as if it was a roller coaster, exclaiming "WHOAH!" along the way. They reached the bottom, and Duke got off with his heart beating fast.

"That...was freakishly crazy!" the mind-blown teenager commented. However, Buck didn't respond to Duke. They looked around in the chasm and realized that the toxic fumes were no longer green, but now a darkish red.

"Funny" Buck said with a confused expression. "The chasm's fumes were always green at first, but now it's all...red?"

"So, _this_ is the Chasm of Death?" Duke asked, rubbing his head. "I can really tell by it's color."

"Well...nonsense. No matter what color the fumes are, remember what I've told ya. If you breathe 'em in, you'll die." Buck pointed down the cliff at something. "Because pretty much, they died laughing."

Duke looked down at where Buck was pointing, and saw an awful lot of dinosaur skeletons and skulls. After being shocked, Duke turned to Buck and nodded. "Right..."

"Splendid, mate! Let us carry on now. There shouldn't be anymore technical difficulties along tha way, 'cause I 'ave fixed them before. Hop on now, lad."

Duke did so and got back on the ribcage, and Buck made it continue sliding. It went on, and this time nothing went wrong. It was a really long slide through, and the two weasels held their breath as they went through the red fumes. The kept holding on, until one of them failed unfortunately. Buck's nose was forced to inhale and he letted out an unexpected sneezed, letting go of his breath. The ribcage then finally reached the exit with a slam, and it made the two weasels fall out. Reliefed that all the crazy sliding was over, Duke got up and dusted himself off.

"Phew!" Duke exclaimed with a smile. "Maybe you were right, Buck. Nothing really did went wrong. I've even held my breath the whole time. Guess surviving the Chasm of Death wasn't so bad, wasn't it Buck? Buck...?"

Duke turned to Buck, who was still lying on the ground for the moment. The one-eyed weasel got back up luckily, but slowly and in a sluggish sloppy way strangely. He got back on his feet, but couldn't keep balance. He couldn't stand straight and he kept tilting back and forth. Duke just stared at the abnormal-acting adult with a confused look.

"Ummm...Buck?" Duke quizzed, not liking what he was seeing. "Are you...okay?"

In a sloppy and messy way, Buck began walking toward Duke. As he did, he began responding to Duke in a drunken way. "H-Hey" Buck stuttered. "Wh-What makes you think I'm...b-...bad?"

"Uhhh...Minster?" Duke quizzed, rubbing his head while still weirded out. "You don't...look so good..."

"Hey, it's that...red-looking fragrence in there...that ma-made me feel so...good! Undersssstood?"

Duke wondered if the red toxic fumes had to do with Buck's behavior. "Did you breathe in that red gas?"

"What you bloody expect, ssssonny? I-It's how much...I hate Mmmondays..."

Duke finally found out, and what the fumes did to Buck. They no longer contain helium nor make voices high-pitched since they were red, but instead drunken the insane weasel.

"Good God o' mighty..." Duke said with a sigh.

"I-I think...I'm gonna go to sleep now" Buck said as he turned and began to slowly fall back. Duke quickly ran toward Buck and caught him in his arms, then felt embarrassed as the drunk weasel continued. "How 'bout a 'lil...joyride on a dinosaur's...private..."

"Okay, Buck" Duke cutted in with discust. "I think you've said enough. Let's just get you to a safe place...that's if you have one..."

Duke then went back into the jungle, carrying and dragging the drunk one-eyed weasel with him along with his dino-tooth blade. Buck kept talking and talking continuously and drunkenly along with way, and it kept Duke annoyed. Although it got on his nerves, Duke chose not to say anything and try to ignore it. It was hard, and it only left the miserable teen weasel moaning sternly due to Buck's drunk talking. It all went on and on, until Duke came up to a bush that had familiar fruit. They were actually the "medicine" fruit Buck was talking about a while ago.

"Hmm" Duke said, rubbing his chin and examining the fruit. "Buck said those fruit can cure any sickness. I dunno if drunkness counts as a symptom, but hopefully-."

Buck cutted in saying, of coarse, more drunken stuff. "H-Hey...Duke?" he quizzed abnormally. "How c-can you ever...know when party rock is in...the house?"

"Okay, Buck" Duke said with a fake smile as he picked off a cure fruit from the bush. "You've said enough. Here, take this. Hopefully, it'll cure you from your drunkness..."

Duke offered the fruit to Buck and tried to have him take a bite, but the one-eyed weasel was too drunk to even pay attention. Duke became urged as he kept trying to feed it to crazy hermit.

"C'mon, Minster" Duke sternly demanded as he kept trying to have Buck eat. "Eat it. You have to. You'd want to get out of your alcoholic affect. Eat up...C'mon, EAT IT!"

With Duke's constant attempts, Buck just wouldn't open his mouth nor chew like he was suppose to. Duke had enough, and he did his last attempt with force. He grabbed Buck's mouth, opened it, and shoved the fruit in. Duke then chopped the hermit's mouth closed, making him bite off of the fruit. Buck then chewed successfully and swallowed, and the teen weasel was finally relieved.

"Oh, thank God" Duke sighed. "How do you feel now, one-eyed buddy?"

Unfortunately Buck still spoke ridiculously, showing that he was still in a drunk state. "Actually, m-m-...mate, that was scrum-...diddly-umptious!"

"Eh..." Duke muttered with an somewhat-disappointed look. "You're probably gonna need more than that. Hopefully still, this fruit will work. Eat up..."

Duke continued feeding Buck the rest of the cure fruit forcefully until it was only a core. Later, the two weasels were sitting on a log and Buck was starting to feel somewhat better. He could finally talk normally although he had a headache and he already had to vomit minutes ago. Duke was very relieved and glad that the cure fruit really did work. It seemed that Buck was telling the truth about it.

"Thank goodness you're okay again, Buck" Duke said happily.

"Aye, mate" Buck said with a smile. "And thanks. You really helped me out there, kiddo. Hehe! Guess it was my turn to be thankful."

Duke crossed his arms with an impressed smile. "Hey. No problem at all, Minster. I was pretty worried, though. But hey, you were right about the eggplant-looking fruits. They really do cure you, even from alcoholic behavior."

"Aye. In fact, the red fumes from the chasm sure did a bloody number on me. If only I didn't sneeze..."

"Yeah. Chasm of Death, huh? More like Chasm of Drunkness..."

"Meh. You can call it that too. I don't know what exactly got into that bloody chasm, anyways. In other words, thanks again lad. You did quite well to help the Incredible Buckminster. I'm quite proud of ya."

Duke smiled cheerfully, beginning to admire the one-eyed hermit and trust him fully. "Thanks, Buck. I was really happy to help."

Buck chuckled cheerfully. "I say, you are the ol' chum for adventure."

Buck and Duke were really enjoying their friendship, until something went wrong. Buck's started feeling queasy in the stomack again, and he face turned pale green.

"Oh...boy", Buck said as he felt a bit of pain in his stomach. "I don't think...the red fume's affect...is quite done yet..."

Duke wore a surprised look. "Man. Maybe you're gonna need some more of that cure fr-."

Duke was interrupted as he started feeling sick in the stomach too, and his face turned pale green as well as Buck's.

"You're...kidding, right?" Duke asked with frustration.

Buck smiled a bit while still feeling sick. "Guess we're on the same page, aren't we lad?"

Duke replied although he kept feeling queasy boiling in his stomach. "Yeah. Except for me, it could be the dino meat Momma fed me...or that man-eating flytrap...or it might be both..."

"Hehe. You sure are...gonna need some...cure fruit too."

"Yeah. You're gonna need some more too, though. Hopefully...they taste good..."

The boiling in their stomachs then got a bit worse.

"Whew, boy!" Buck said. "Here it comes..."

"Same here" Duke said.

The two weasels then ran swiftly for the bushes and began vomitting in them. They continued vomitting and vomitting, and they later stopped as the queasyness in their stomachs lowered. The two then sat on the ground back-to-back, tired out and relieved.

"Oh, man..." Duke said. "Glad that's all over..."

"Aye, mate" Buck replied. "Perhaps after we recover, we set up our camp?"

"Yeah."

"The night sure is starting to come, and perhaps we should get dinner too. All that puking sure made me work up quite an appetite."

Duke was confused and disgusted. "Umm...right. But hey, I do have something quite special to make for dinner."

"Splendid, mate! Tell ya what, kiddo. I'll set up the camp while you whip something up for us. That way, you wouldn't do all the back-breaking work."

"Oh, um. Thanks, Buck. Hopefully though, it won't break your back."

Buck and Duke then got up and started walking away together, going for some more cure fruit.

"Ya know, lad" Buck said with a smile. "All that vomitting was crikey, and it was sure a joyride of adventure!"

Duke was more disgusted and dumb-founded, and he didn't want Buck to continue. "Okay, Buck" Duke said with a fake smile. "How 'bout you save it 'til after dinner?"

As Buck and Duke went away, a small raptor unexpectedly popped out of the bushes they vomitted in. Although the raptor was hiding from predators the whole time, it had been puked on by mistake. It was all covered in vomit and was disgusted and angry. It then glared at Buck and Duke and growled, then walked away into the jungle with disgust and embarrassment.

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**So, that's Chapter 8. Might Buck be concerned about the village Duke mentioned? What happens next? Stay tuned!**

**In fact, British or Australian accents like Buck's are hard to type. Hope I've made Buck in character, and hope you like it. I will update soon. ;)**

**I do NOT own Ice Age nor its characters. The OCs are mine.**


	9. Campfire Stories

**I'm back once again with another chapter. I've also remade Chapters 5 and 8 a little, and I may have to fix the other chapters. There were some grammar errors and I wanted to get rid of the singing in Chapter 5. For Chapter 8, I remade the story. So before you read this chapter, it'd be best to re-read 8. Afterwards or otherwise, enjoy this one!**

* * *

Chapter 9: Campfire Stories

Later on that night in the middle of the jungle, a camp had already been set up. A campfire was made, some logs were pulled up, and there were big sleeping bags made out of leaves. There were also bowls and a big pot carved out of wood. Buck had carved them just as Duke requested him. Buck was sitting on a log with patience as Duke was stirring something in the pot with a long, wood-carved spoon.

"Boy did our stomachs do a number on us" Duke said.

"Aye" Buck agreed. "I gotta tell ya, lad. The red fumes are no longer something to laugh about."

"Yes. And dinosaur meat should never be consumed by any non-reptile...well, unless it's cooked or cleaned off."

"Aye. So what are ya planning, lad?"

"You're going to love it, Minster. It is our family recipe."

"Family recipe, eh? Sounds smashing."

"Yeah. My mother sure is a great cook. She did teach me how to make it too, mostly so I can share it with friends...like you."

Buck smiles warmly, cherishing the fact that Duke called him a friend but refers to his mother instead. "Aw. That's really nice of tha lass."

Duke shrugged while still stirring and cooking. "Hm, yeah. So Buck, I see you're wearing an eyepatch. Would you mind if I ask how you lost your eye?"

"Righto, mate." With that said, Buck stood up and began telling the story about how he lost his eye. "There I was...my back against the wall...no way out. Perched on a razor's edge of oblivion! Staring into the eye of the Great White Beast!"

Duke listened a bit closer while still cooking the soup as Buck continued telling his story. His story led to flashbacks; from thunder to Rudy slashing out the younger Buck's eye, to him climbing a tree with a stick for defense to Rudy lunging at him and almost completely eating him. Duke gasped and almost dropped his wooden spoon into the pot.

"That...sounds horrific!" Duke commented. "But luckily though as I can see right now, you didn't get killed...somehow..."

"Sadly, yes" Buck replied. "I _was _killed...but I lived!"

Duke was quite confused. "Right..."

Buck then continued on with his story and Duke continued to listen. "Never had I felt so alive when I was so close to DEATH! Just before Rudy could suck me down his gullet, I grabbed hold of the gross, pink, fleshy thing that dangles at the back of the throat!"

"BLECK!" Duke exclaimed with real disgust as he accidently dropped the spoon into the pot of soup, then looked down at it. "Oops..."

"Yep, that part of the mouth!" Buck laughed as he helpfully dipped his hand deeply into the pot and handed Duke back the spoon.

"Right...and thanks."

Buck nodded, then finished up. "I hung on to that sucker, and I swung back and forth, back and forth, and back and forth, 'til finally I shot right out of his mouth!"

Buck tossed his knife into the air. "I may have lost my eye that day, but I got this..."

The one-eyed weasel then caught his knife, and Duke was astonished. "Rudy's tooth..." Duke said while shocked and mind-blown. "You knocked it out..."

"It's like the old saying...'an eye for a tooth, a nose for a chin, a butt for a..." Buck sat back down, not remembering the rest of the saying. "Well...it's an old saying, but...uh...it's not a very good one."

Duke didn't remember such a 'saying', but all he did was just nod in agreement.

Buck went on some more. "Now, let me tell you about the time I used a sharpened clam shell to turn a T-Rex...into a T-Rachel!"

Duke chuckled by Buck's joke nickname, but then noticed that the soup was boiling and finished. "Oh, wait! Dinner's ready!"

Buck shrugged. "Righto."

Duke took a wooden bowl and scooped up almost a bowl full of soup, then handed it to Buck. "Try it. It is mostly made out of veggies."

Buck smelled it and examined it a bit. "Hmmm...it does smell pretty descent but ...there isn't any broccoli, is it?"

"Umm...no. To give you the truth, I don't like broccoli. Plus, it's only hot water with chopped-up vegetables mixed in it...which makes it taste good. That's when we came up with a name for it...'soup'..."

Buck rubbed his chin, then nodded. "Huh, alrighty lad."

Duke rubbed his head with a nervous smile. "Yeah..."

As Duke grabbed the other bowl, Buck then took a sip of his soup. He smiled after a couple of seconds, meaning he actually liked it. "Say, this tastes...bloody delicious!"

Duke then turned his nervous smile into a real one. "Heh. Thanks, Buck. It is better without broccoli, after all."

"Aye, it is!"

As Buck continued drinking from his bowl, Duke scooped some soup out for himself and began drinking from his bowl as well. Later after their feast, the pot was almost empty and the two weasels were full and satisfied.

"Phew!" Buck exclaimed. "I'm as stuff as a water balloon!"

"Yeah, me too" Duke said. "In fact Buck, we _are_ water balloons."

The two weasels laughed and sighed happily, but then Buck was reminded of something. "Say, lad?" Buck quizzed. "Ya mind telling ol' Buck the rest of your story? My apologies for cutting you off hours ago."

Duke was glad that Buck letted him finish his story he was going to tell before they visited the chasm. "Right..."

Duke cleared his throat, getting ready to begin his story. He started by showing Buck his wolf-fang knife once again. "Of coarse, I have told you that this blade was once my father's. I gotta hand it to you though, my father was a tough brave warrior just like you. He wasn't the most cheerful nor helpful guy in the world nor was my mother, but at least sometimes he did have a kind heart."

Buck smiled and nodded. "Hm. I gotta say lad, your father does sound like a brilliant man."

"Yeah, he is. He did tell me his and Mom's backstory, too. Wanna hear it?"

"Sure thing, mate! Bring on the storyboard!"

"Alright. Back then, there used to be a village where weasels and helpful beavers roam..."

Buck's smile went away. Of course he wasn't happy about Duke bringing up the village in his story, but the insane hermit allowed the teenager finish anyways.

"My parents did live there and everything was always peaceful, until...it became tragic. Wolves came and attacked, led by their deadly and vicious leader. Their leader was a black, X-scarred wolf named Ripper..."

Buck was quite shocked and a bit mind-blown. Oddly, he felt bad about that village being attacked by wolves. Not letting the pain get to him, he still allowed Duke to continue.

"Houses and other buildings were being destroyed and lives were ruined. The wolves just attacked and tore a lot of stuff to pieces. Some villagers fought back though, including my dad. While saving my mom, he did get a blow on the back by Ripper. Just then though, someone slingshot a big rock at Ripper and it knocked out one of his teeth. Of course, his tooth was made into this..."

Once again, Duke showed Buck his weapon. It revealed to the deranged hermit that the knife was actually Ripper's tooth.

"My father then fought Ripper with it, giving him the two scars on his eye. Later, the wolves had to retreat. They left, leaving the entire village destroyed."

Buck looked down at his feet with his ears lowered, looking deeply hurt. "Wow...that is...sad, lad..."

"But hey, some beaver friends did help build a home for me and my parents. Those beavers were the parents of a 'friend' who is really annoying and childish...of course. Years have passed though as I grew up, and one day this sloth named Sid came over and asked for help. I volunteered and I hung out with him and his pretty unique herd. I had a pretty good time, but later I had to go back home. I headed back, but then I was brutally shocked..."

Duke looked down at his feet with sadness, bringing up the tragedy that happened to him two days ago back up in the Ice Age. "The wolves weren't actually long gone. While I was with the herd, they came back. They destroyed my home...and killed my parents..."

Buck wore a really sad look, feeling real bad for Duke. The one-eyed adult came to the poor teenager, kneeled down at him, and placed a hand on his shoulder in a friendly way. "I'm...really sorry, kiddo. I truly am. I'm sure your parents loved you with all their bloody hearts. You should never forget that."

"Yeah...but you have no idea how massively heartbroken I was and how much tears I made. My life...was just messed-up ruined, screwed over. The herd was there for me though, and they adopted me. I kinda felt like I was in a family again, except it wasn't really the best. It was better than nothing, though. The next day, we went to explore a cave. That was when I fell through the ice and...well, I ended up here...in the Dinosaur World..."

Duke was finished with his story, and Buck sat beside the teenager with a warm smile and an arm around him. "Then in that case lad, you came to the right place. For adventure, thrills, cheer, and bloody happiness. Trust me. Your problems will go away and just like the group of mammals I helped years ago, you'll have quite the time of your life."

Duke looked up at Buck with little light inside of him. "You really think so?"

"Aye. Your story really meant alot. Just because you lost your family though doesn't mean you can lose hope. You have a jolly-good life way ahead of ya, mate. You just need to take the heart of your family with ya."

"Gee...I guess you're right..."

"Of course, kiddo! I mean for me, I still have the heart of my ex-wife, older brother, and my unknown child. Me and my ex got through mating season a week before we got a divorce, which was the worst part. If only she didn't leave me and if only my brother wasn't such a bloody smart mouth, I wouldn't have ended up here nor became this crazy. Plus...I would have gotten a chance to see my son or daughter... But hey, I still love her and somewhat respect my brother. See what I mean, lad? I still have their hearts with me."

Duke never knew Buck had a mate and a brother, but felt bad for the insane hermit because of his break-up. "Right...But why did your wife divorce you? That's pretty sad..."

"Well... I got tired of being a house weasel. Helping around in the village, working, baby-sitting, other boring chores. My wife seemed to enjoy it though, which made life pretty back-breaking for me most of the time. I could hardly get a break nor could I at least play with the other kids. Sheesh! I never really expect the lass to be a super-busy she-weasel. One day, I wanted to admit something to her. I told her that I was more interested in fun and adventure other than working all bloody day. That was when she thought I had no responsibility and it turned into an argument. Then, sadly...we broke apart. She then chose my brother over me as I left the village...then I broke through ice and ended up here..."

"Gee. I'm really sorry to hear that, Buck. Maybe she only wanted to be as responsible as she can be."

Buck sighed. "Aye. As for my brother, we barely got along growing up. Most of the time, he was such a party pooper and a smart-alek. Guess my ex-wife had a good reason to throw away the wedding ring on me..."

Oddly to Duke, Buck's brother sounds a bit similar to his father. "Alrighty..."

"But hey, at least I finally have what I want. Adventure, down here! Hehe! I'm not longer a house weasel! I could never be happier."

Duke crossed his arms with a smile and an eyebrow raised. "I can really tell, Minster. I can really tell..."

"Aye. In fact if I'm correct mate, you did mention your parents. Your father does sound like quite a warrior and your mother sounds like a lovely woman. How might they be?"

With a bit of suspicion, Duke wondered why Buck wanted to know such info. He then shrugged and thought that it wouldn't hurt anything since his parents are dead to him. "Sure. Maybe it wouldn't hurt...since they're dead."

Buck listened as Duke told him the names of his parents.

"My father was a barbarian weasel...named Hunter..."

Suddenly, Buck widened his eye with shock.

"...And my mother is a houe-keeper named Rita."

Buck's jaw then dropped and his eye started twitching. Duke raised an eyebrow, concerned about Buck's expression. "Umm...something wrong, Minster?"

"Huh?! Um..." Buck hesitated, then wore a nervous smile and rubbed his head. "Nothing, mate. It's just...well, nothing..."

Duke still had a confusesd look. "Okay..." The teenage weasel sat down on a log to relax a bit. "So..."

Buck got up and stretched. "Well if you excuse me lad, tha Buckminster gotta take a quick leak."

Duke shrugged as if he doesn't mind. "Suit yourself, adventure buddy."

The one-eyed weasel walked off into the forest for a break, and Duke continued to relax at the camp. Ten minutes have passed, and Buck finally came back. To Duke, it seemed much longer than just "leak".

"What took you so long, Minster?" Duke asked.

"Meh... might have drunk a lot" Buck said.

"Well ever since I've met you this morning, you weren't really-..." Duke was cut off by something odd he saw. He saw that Buck's eye was swollen red strangely. "Buck...why is your eye swollen?"

Buck hesitated a bit more, making up lies. "Oh, my eye? Eh...had quite some allergy problems..."

It was hard for Duke to believe that Buck was having allergies and it made his eye swollen. "How can allergies make your eyes red?" Duke asked.

"Well...it just happened randomly..." Buck fibbed.

"Buck, I don't under-."

The one-eyed weasel then snapped at Duke sternly. "I was having bloody allergies, child!"

Duke slammed a surprised look on his face and raised his hands in defense when Buck snapped at him. "Whoah, now! Okay, alright! I get it!"

Buck then sighed and sat on the log beside Duke, looking down at his feet sadly. He didn't really mean to randomly raise his tone at the teen weasel. "Sorry, lad" the one-eyed hermit apologized. "Let's just...not talk about it, okay?"

Duke wore a sad look as if he felt bad for the crazy hermit. "Okay...Need some more cure fruit?"

Buck shook his head. "Nay...I'll be fine."

Buck continued to sit with sadness, and so did Duke. Just then, something came up in Duke's mind; something he forgot to mention and that could cheer Buck up. He glanced at the crazed adventurer with a warm smile.

"Say, Buck?" Duke quizzed. "While telling you my story, there was something I forgot to mention."

Still having sadness, Buck glanced up at Duke. "What might it be, mate?"

"Growing up, I was always picked-on and harrassed by other kids while traveling and in school. Well...not _always_, actually. I'm somewhat just like you Buck. I've barely got any respect nor do I have a girlfriend."

Buck felt bad for the teenage weasel. "You poor, victimized boy..."

Duke nodded and continued. "Yeah, but that's not all. There is other stuff, and something my father said long before he passed away..."

Duke stood up, placed a hand on Buck's shoulder, and began singing. While doing so, it leads to flashbacks of when Duke was much younger.

("Don't You Worry Child" by Swedish House Mafia)

**Duke**:

(The background shows a flashback of Hunter and Duke, as a kid, fishing from a lake while laughing and having fun)

_There was a time I used to look into my father's eyes_

_In a happy home, I was a king I had my a golden throne_

_(_The background fades away)

_Those days are gone, now the memories are on the wall_

_I hear the songs from the places where I was born_

(The background then shows a scenery of the tundra)

_Up on the hill across the blue lake,  
That's where I had my first heartbreak  
I still remember how it all changed  
My father said…_

(It leads to a flashback of Duke, as a kid, being cheered up by Hunter)_  
_

**Hunter**:

_Don't you worry, don't you worry, child  
See heaven's got a plan for you  
Don't you worry, don't you worry now  
Yeah!_

(Everything turns into an illusion; the background showing colorful patterns, more random weasels dancing along with Duke, and an illusion of Hunter standing beside Duke and singing with him)

**Duke & Hunter**:_  
Don't you worry, don't you worry, child  
See heaven's got a plan for you  
Don't you worry, don't you worry now  
Yeah!  
_

(The background darkens, Hunter disappears, and Buck wears an astonished look. Duke then holds a rose though it's an illusion, and starts picking off it's pedals)

**Duke:**_  
There was a time I met a girl of a different kind  
We ruled the world, I thought I'll never lose her out of sight.  
We were so young, I think of her now and then_

(The rose disappears from Duke's hands)_  
I still hear the songs reminding me of a friend  
_

(The background shows a scenery of a different tundra)_  
Up on the hill across the blue lake,  
That's where I had my first heartbreak  
I still remember how it all changed  
My father said…_

(Hunters appears again, placing a hand on Duke's shoulder and singing to him and Buck)

**Hunter:**_  
Don't you worry, don't you worry, child  
See heaven's got a plan for you  
Don't you worry, don't you worry now  
Yeah!_

**Duke:**

_Oh, oh, oh!  
_(As Duke sings, Buck smiles and gets up from the log. He stands beside the two other weasels to dance with them)_  
See heaven's got a plan for you  
_

**Duke & Hunter:**

(The background shows patterns again and Buck, Duke, Hunter, and all the other weasels start dancing again.)_  
Don't you worry, don't you worry, child  
See heaven's got a plan for you  
Don't you worry, don't you worry now  
Yeah!  
_

**Duke:**

_Oh, oh, oh, oh,oh,oh,oh!_

(They lower down their dancing. Later, every illusion, including Hunter and the other weasels, disappears and everything goes back to normal.)_  
Yeah!_

With that out of the way, Buck and Duke sat back down on the log and sighed happily.

"Wasn't that brilliant, Buck?" Duke asked.

"Aye, mate" Buck answered. "It really told me a lot, especially what your uncl-, I mean, _father_ told you in tha past."

"Yeah. And you know what, Buck? We _will _forever have and keep the hearts of our loved ones, we'll never forget them."

"Aye…" Buck then stood back up ad stretched. "Welp, it's time to hit the sack…well, for you that is. You get some shut-eye, lad. I'll keep watch. Tomorrow will be a whole better adventure."

"Okay. Are you sure, though? Isn't sleep important too?"

"Are you plucking my whiskers? I'm the Incredible Buckminster! I can last a whole night! What makes ya think I can turn into a floppy green thing?"

Duke laughed. "Okay, Minster."

Buck ruffled Duke's head and smiled warmly. "Have a good night rest, kiddo."

Duke smiled back at the one-eyed weasel. "Goodnight, Buck."

The teenager got in one of the leaf-made sleeping bags Buck made and fell asleep. The deranged hermit putted out the campfire with water, then started keeping watch of the camp. As he did, he looked up at the dark ceiling with sadness still in him. "Hunter….Rita….I'm sorry I wasn't there…"

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**So, that's Chapter 9. Buck and Duke told each other their back stories, but Buck seemed shocked when he heard the names of Duke's parents. Were they familiar to the one-eyed weasel? What was Buck really doing that made his eye swollen? Does Buck have a confession to make to Duke? Stay tuned.**

**It is pretty much as long as Chapter 8, after all. And while the singing I know you can't image the dancing, but how else can I describe it? And once again, hope I'm allowed to put lyrics in this fanfic and make it musical. Anyways, I'll update soon.**

**"Don't You Worry Child" © Swedish House Mafia**

**I do NOT own Ice Age nor Buck! Duke belongs to me.**


	10. Morning Confrontations

**I'm back with another chapter. Of course, I'm a slow writer and all and this took quite some weeks. ^^; Anyways, this is the 10****th**** chapter of my fanfic. Enjoy.**

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Chapter 10: Morning Confrontations

The next day came back up in the Ice Age world, and Manny was still asleep at the moment. While sleeping, he heard someone mysteriously whispering to him.

"Mammoth?" the voice whispered cleverly. "Rise and shine, mammoth. Wake up..."

Manny slowly woke up and opened his eyes, then was alarmed. It was Ripper standing right in front of him, smiling deviously! Manny bolted up and backed away startled, but then bumped into someone. He noticed that he and the rest of the herd were all fearfully back-to-back, surrounded by a big pack of wolves. Ellie hugged and held Peaches close, Crash and Eddie hugged each other and shivering fearfully, Sid hid and stood behind Diego, and Diego was in battle stance while growling.

"Mom, I'm scared..." Peaches whimpered.

"It's okay, hun" Ellie comforted. "I'm hear. Just don't look them in the eyes."

"Hehe. N-Nice doggies..." Sid whimpered with a nervous smile.

Manny and Diego glared at Ripper with a bit of hate and suspicion.

"Who are you?" Manny asked sternly. "And what do you want?"

Ripper chuckled evilly as Brute, Edna, and Rax stood beside him. "No need to get your trunk in a knot, mammoth" Ripper said cleverly. "We're only here for a little information. I am Ripper, and this is my army."

"Just spill it, blacky!" Diego growled. "What is it that you want to know?!"

Edna growled back at Diego. "First of all, buck-tooth..." Edna growled. "Don't you talk to our boss like that!"

"Or what?!" Diego challenged.

Edna growled more fiercely, and Ripper held out an arm and blocked her way.

"Settle down now" the black wolf said. "Let's be civil without any violence."

"Just tell us..." Manny said. "What do you want...?"

"We only want to know where a certain someone is" Ripper said. "So give. Do you know a certain weasel and where he is?"

"What weasel?" Ellie asked.

"Madam..." Ripper said cleverly. "It is a weasel...who goes by the name Duke..."

The whole herd was shocked, and Ripper grinned bigger and more devious.

"Duke?" Sid quizzed, making up lies. "W-We don't know who this 'Duke' is. Y-You may have the wrong-... Hey!"

One of the wolves sniffed Sid a little, then ran back to Ripper and whispered to him. The black leader then looked back at the herd, somewhat dumb-founded.

"I believe you _do _know him..." Ripper said. "Because one of my fellows can smell him on you...though he also said that the sloth smells quite odorous."

"Okay! Alright!" Diego said with annoyance.

"Just what do you want from him?" Peaches asked.

"I'm sure whatever it is, he means nothing to you!" Ellie argued.

"Oh, I believe I do have concern with the little mustiled" Ripper said.

Manny thought back to when Duke lost his parents, then glared at Ripper more. "You were the ones who killed his parents, weren't you?" Manny accused.

"Maybe I am..." Ripper said cleverly. "...Or maybe not. Who knows...?"

"Don't play dumb with us!" Manny demanded.

Brute came toward Diego and Sid and smiled deviously at them. "Who knows?" Brute said. "Even if we did come to his house to kill them, we could have killed Duke too."

Diego growled and Sid whimpered. "Please stop talking like that..." Sid said sadly.

Edna came toward Ellie and Peaches and smiled deviously at them too. "I'm pretty sure his parents, especially his _mother, _were quite overprotective and stupid..." Edna said in a mean way.

Ellie felt insulted. "You better watch who you're talking to, missy..." Ellie threatened.

Rax leaped and landed near the twin opossums with craziness, and it terrified the two marsupials. "Wassup?!" Rax shouted foolishly.

"Uhh..." Crash said hesitantly.

"We're doing...okay..." Eddie said nervously.

Ellie picked up the two opossums and putted them on her back protectively. Manny and Ripper were still face-to-face, with the mammoth still glaring and the wolf still smiling evilly. Manny then sighed and calmed down.

"Look..." Manny said. "Will you leave us alone if we at least tell you what direction he went?"

Ripper looked at his three henchmen, then back at Manny still deviously with a plan.

"Tell ya what, mammoth..." the evil black wolf said, crossing his arms. "We'll let you off for now. You can relax, but not for long. When we come back one day, you shall tell us where the teenage weasel is...even if we have to use force."

Manny glared harder at Ripper. "Over our dead, extinct bodies" the male bull said. "Nor will I let any of you hurt my family."

"Oh, you _will_ tell us..." Ripper said. "It'll be one way, or another..."

"And we still won't tell you anything, even if we have to use violence..."

Ripper shook his head and chuckled. "Mammoths... When will they learn?"

Ripper and his pack of wolves then turned and began leaving for home. The main three came with him, but then Edna stopped for the moment and turned to the herd.

"You'll be sorry, ya bunch of weasel lovers!" Edna shouted back to the herd before catching back up with Ripper and his pack.

"Pfft..." Diego said secretly, glaring at Edna and the disappearing pack. "Screw you and your retarded, heartless excuse for a wolf pack..."

The herd calmed down and felt safe again now that Ripper and his pack is gone, though Peaches was still worried about Duke.

"Mom, will Duke still be okay?" the teenage mammoth asked. "Those wolves are after him, and there's no telling what they'll do to him if they find him!"

"I know, sweetie" Ellie said, hugging and comforting her daughter. "I know. It's gonna be okay. I'm still worried about him too."

Manny sighed, lowering his anger a bit. "They'll be back..." he said.

"Well, at least Duke's in another world...with Buck" Sid said with a nervous smile.

Diego turned to the sloth with a stern look. "Actually Sid, the _**Dinosaur World**_ isn't the safest place for him..." the tiger corrected sternly. "Plus, what if they were able to find an entrance or even break through the ice and fall down there?"

"Okay, okay! I get it! Sheesh!" Sid said while a little irritated.

Ellie looked at Manny with a worried look. "I just wish we were with Duke so we could warn him" she said.

"We still can, and we will" Manny swore. "We just need to find another way into the Dinosaur World."

"But wasn't the skull bridge Buck destroyed the only entrance?" Ellie asked.

"Probably not. Hopefully, there is another entrance or safe way back in."

"Well I hope there is, Dad" Peaches said sternly to Manny. "Duke already lost his family. He never deserved to lose his life, too."

Peaches then turned away and walked over to Sid and Diego along with Crash and Eddie, and Ellie stared at her with a sad look. The female mammoth sighed and looked back at her husband.

"Now we have two things to worry about" Ellie said. "Duke and those wolves coming back for us..."

"Look" Manny said, holding Ellie's trunk and comforting her. "Forget about Missing Tooth and his pack of mutts. For now, we should focus on finding Duke. I'm really not the biggest fan of crazy adventures, dinosaurs, nor that insane one-eyed weasel, but still. We'd better find another way into the Dinosaur World and Duke...before the wolves do..."

"Well, okay…" Ellie said. "After all, it's either help save Duke or lose him...and our daughter's respect..."

Manny looked down and sighed. "Yeah... For now though, let's go."

Manny and Ellie gathered the rest of the herd and they all started their journey throughout the Ice Age wilderness in the search for another way into the Dinosaur World.

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Back down in the Dinosaur World, Duke started to wake up since it was morning. He sat up from his leaf-made sleeping bag and stretched. Oddly, Buck wasn't around. While scratching his back with a bit of exhaustion, Duke looked around for the insane dino hunter.

"Ummm...Buck?" Duke questioned, still looking around. "Buck? Where are you?"

The teenage weasel got out of his sleeping bag and stretched again. He then turned around, then was startled. Duke jumped back with a shriek as he found Buck close to his face, smiling nervously and hanging upside down. It was because his ankles were tied up by vines from the trees.

"Buck?!" Duke exclaimed, surprised.

"Hehe. Morning, mate" Buck said nervously.

Duke sighed and crossed his arms. "What did you get yourself into now?" the teenager asked.

"Ehh, got myself in a little pickle here. I was keeping watch like promised last night, though. I tried swinging back down into the camp, but then got myself quite tangled up. Aye, my own swinging helper turned against me. I tried to get him off completely, but then he bloody got me by the ankles. Blast...Nature got tha best of me again..."

Duke smiled with an eyebrow raised. "Need some help, Minster?"

Buck smiled back. "Aye. It'd be really appreciating."

Duke nodded, still smiling. "Okay. Hold up..."

Duke pulled up a somewhat small rock and stood on it like a stool. He was high enough and he reached for Buck's tied-up ankles.

"Alright. Hold still, Wiggly Toes" Duke joked.

Duke began and tried untying Buck from the vines. He tried, but they were actually too tight and complicatedly tangled.

"Oh, boy..." Duke said with confusion. "Sorry. Hold up, Buck. I'm gonna need my knife for this."

"Righto" Buck said with a shrug. "Take your time, lad."

Duke ran and grabbed his knife from his holster. He then went back to Buck and stood back on rock to cut him free. The teen weasel began cutting the vines tied on the deranged hermit's ankle, and the hermit stood as still as he could so Duke could do his job. Duke managed to cut all the vines successfully, and Buck was freed as he fell onto the ground. Buck sat up rubbing his head as Duke hopped off the rock and offered him his hand. Buck smiled at the young weasel as he took his hand and was helped up back on his feet.

"Thanks, kiddo" Buck said thankfully as he ruffled Duke's head.

"No problem, Buck" Duke replied. "Just try to be careful next time...with your craziness."

Buck nodded as he began stretching and exercising, twisting his long body like a towel. Duke was quite amazed by Buck's twisting thinking as if Buck barely has any bones in his body.

"Whoah" Duke chuckled. "I never knew we, weasels, can do that."

Buck laughed a bit as he stopped stretching and exercising. "Kid, don't try this insanity at home" he said cheerfully.

Duke wore a somewhat unimpressed look. "I don't have a home. Remember?"

"Well in that case, you can try it whenever you want. Just try not to upset your bones, or they'll quit on ya."

Duke sighed and did a facepalm, a little dumb-founded. _Well look on the bright side, Duke... _he thought to himself. _At least you finally have what you want. Adventure and an adult who somewhat understands you..._

Duke glanced back at Buck, seeing the one-eyed weasel grab his knife, lasso, and his berry bombs.

"So, Buck?" Duke asked. "What do we have in store for today?"

Buck tossed Duke's weapon holster to him. "Whattaya say we go for some breakfast, then we begin training?" Buck asked.

Duke shrugged as he putted on his holster and on stored his weapon in it. "Sure thing. Can't train on an empty stomach, I guess."

Buck came toward Duke and placed a hand on his shoulder in a friendly way. "No worries, lad. We'll find us a fresh, good morning appetite that could make our bones stronger than a triceratops."

Duke smiled at Buck as they both left the camp and started their stroll through the jungle, searching for food. Later, they managed to find and pick quite some fruit from different trees and hedges; from apples to grapes, from mangoes to peaches, from bananas to pomegranates. They then went back to their camp with as much as they can grab and they began eating. While eating, Buck wanted to chat with Duke a little more.

"So, lad?" Buck asked as he tossed Duke a grape. "Talk to me. How was life with your parents?"

Duke looked down at the grape Buck tossed him sadly then sighed. "Well like I said last night, it wasn't the best" Duke replied. "I really don't like to talk bad about them though, especially since they're dead..."

"Well my apologies there, lad" Buck said apologeticlly. "How 'bout we change the subject maybe?"

"Yeah. Sure thing" Duke replied as he took a bite off of the grape Buck tossed him.

"So, what else had been going on in your life?" Buck asked, lying on his back and holding a mango with his foot.

"Well, life as a kid wasn't the best either" Duke answered. "I've made _some _friends though, that's the good part. But then, there were bullies. To make matters worse, some were bigger mammals like sabers and mammoths."

"Bullies, eh? Now that, ma boy, is bad news." With that said, Buck lowered the mango down toward him and took a bite. He chewed and swallowed, then glanced back at Duke. "Carry on now, lad."

"Well anyways, I was called so many names; stupid, useless, furball, butthead, and worst of all...'dog-headed'..."

Buck wore a somewhat-surprised look. "Dog-headed? Crikey! I don't see why anyone would call ya such a name. You don't look much like-...well, your head doesn't really represent a canid...at all."

"Thanks, Buck. For future reference though, please don't ever call me that."

Buck smiled. "No worries, lad. You have my word."

"Well anyways, I did try to make a girlfriend, but it turned out that she was taken. Taken by someone who's more special and mature than I am."

Buck gave the poor teenager a somewhat-sad look as he watched him take another bite off of his grape. "Now that, lad, is a sad love story. A gal taken by someone else is more like a bowling ball heading straight for the gutter."

"Yeah. Being a teen ain't easy, after all. And having a girlfriend isn't for beginners too. Besides, a guy with no home, no family, and no friends...is no fun..."

As Duke finished up his grape, Buck tossed his mango to the side and came over to Duke. The one-eyed weasel then sat by him and putted an arm around him cheerfully.

"You shouldn't talk like that, lad" Buck said cheerfully as he took a strawberry and gave it to Duke. "Of coarse I don't have a house or anything like that, but it doesn't matter. The Dinosaur World is my home. It's all the home I need, and I can go anywhere I want in it."

"And what about friends?"

"Meh, don't have any real ones. The only friends I have are skulls, fruits, and some other objects. They aren't the most talkative though, but it's better than no one."

Duke raised an eyebrow as he started eating his strawberry. _Of coarse..._he thought. _But it is quite sad that he's this lonely. He could really use some frie-._

Buck continued talking, and it startled Duke and made him pop back into reality from his mind. "So, lad?" the deranged hermit asked. "What else had been going on?"

"Well that's pretty much it, except when I got older my old 'friend' started coming over. He was always weird, childish, and annoying back in the day, and he barely even changed."

"Hm, that's kinda understandable..." Buck then gave Duke a hard, cheerful pat on the back. "Welp lad, let us finish up on breakfast then we'll get on with our exercise."

Duke smiled a bit at Buck. "Alright."

The two weasels then continued eating their breakfast. Later, they were finished and there were barely any fruit left. With that out of the way, Buck and Duke were ready to train.

"Alrighty, mate" Buck said. "Grab your blade and come along with me. I have the perfect training field we can exercise in."

Duke nodded and they both got up and grabbed their weaponry. They then went away into the forest, heading to where Buck's "training field" might be.

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**So that's it for Chapter 10. It seems that Ripper came to the herd for a visit and a warning, and Manny made a promise that they'll get to Duke. Will they find him before it's too late? Will Duke successfully fulfill his training with Buck? Stay tuned to find out. I'll update soon. ;)**


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